TJM obs of 2009 May 18 UTC

From: Ted Molczan (ssl3molcz@rogers.com)
Date: Mon May 18 2009 - 05:43:00 UTC

  • Next message: Tristan Cools: "soyuz TMA-15"

    I am now confident that 09023B is rotating. 
    
    On my first pass, I observed a couple of flashes from it, and also saw a fairly
    sudden deep fade, followed by a gradual return to about its pre-fade brightness.
    The 15 s period I reported is a only guess, and not PPAS quality. I also
    observed the slow variation on my second pass. I could barely see it at 15 deg
    elevation, where I could see to mag 9.5 with my 25x100 binoculars. However, it
    gradually brightened to mag 7, and I managed an observation at elevation 6.7 deg
    (the timing could be a little off). The period of variation seemed much longer
    than the 15 s I guessed on the previous pass.
    
    I received Marco Langbroek's and Mike Waterman's observations of 09023B in time
    to help me prepare for mine. They reported it ~4.4 s late relative ~2 d old
    elements, so I produced this update:
    
    STSS-ATRR r                                              162 X 831 km
    1 34904U 09023B   09137.88812808  .00381947  00000-0  23892-3 0    09
    2 34904 112.5321 250.8364 0486000 295.9156  59.2679 15.22514470    09
    Arc 20090515.2-0517.9 WRMS resid 0.026 totl 0.013 xtrk
    
    I observed it more than 0.5 s late against the update.
    
    I have now received Pierre's observations, and will wait for others before I
    produce a final update for the night.
    
    24680 96 072A   2701 G 20090518024019730 17 25 1020450-090193 77 S
    24680 96 072A   2701 G 20090518024049520 17 25 1005298-032295 46 S
    24680 96 072A   2701 G 20090518024229130 17 25 0858273+181810 96 S
    24680 96 072A   2701 G 20090518024359980 17 25 0732552+354088 18 S
    24680 96 072A   2701 G 20090518024546730 17 25 0542997+445109 37 S
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035049380 17 25 1950976+355016 57 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035057240 17 25 1956349+382870 18 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035105480 17 25 2002794+411692 37 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035212340 17 25 2137287+621627 77 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035301230 17 25 0001044+693613 86 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035515130 17 25 0358771+572670 96 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518035542740 17 25 0412892+542509 87 R        015000
    34904 09 023B   2701 G 20090518052835240 17 25 0751209+370726 47 R+070 05
    
    IOD format: http://www.satobs.org/position/IODformat.html
    
    Site 2701: 43.68764 N, 79.39243 W, 230 m
    
    Ted Molczan
    
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