Marco Langbroek reported the following observations, which resulted from a planar search: 26934 01 044A 4353 G 20140531013002250 17 75 2022511+420150 56 +020 10 26934 01 044A 4353 G 20140531013012300 17 75 2031398+513440 56 +020 10 26934 01 044A 4353 G 20140531013022250 17 75 2045513+608860 56 +000 10 26934 01 044A 4353 G 20140531013032300 17 75 2110170+696990 56 +010 10 Marco commented: > With Leo's first post winter-blackout obs from a week ago (May 24) this obs > should constrain the current orbit much better. Marco does seem to have found 01044A, but his observations correlate with Björn Gimle's UNID of Apr 22 (obs below), that Björn suspected was 01044A. Until now, I had rejected that hypothesis. 00000 14 612A 5919 E 20140422003614000 18 25 1402950+341689 55 S 00000 12 612A 5919 E 20140422003641000 18 25 1224356+521941 55 S 00000 12 612A 5919 E 20140422003648000 38 25 1201370+543641 55 S 00000 12 612A 5919 E 20140422003715000 18 25 0924699+595807 55 S 00000 12 612A 5919 E 20140422003725000 18 25 0838636+590516 55 S I have obtained the following approximate solution to Björn's and Marco's observations: USA 161 411 X 425 km 1 26934U 01044A 14151.05316463 .00007977 00000-0 15000-3 0 05 2 26934 97.5160 287.4274 0010499 298.2537 61.7653 15.48511235 00 Arc 20140422.03-0531.06 WRMS resid 0.055 totl 0.010 xtrk Mean motion and rate of decay are the least certain elements, but predictions should be accurate to ~1 min. of time for the next few nights. When last observed by our group, in 2013, 01044A had been near sun-synch, in a ~97.0 deg, ~15.595 rev/d orbit. The above orbit is somewhat more retrograde than sun-synch, and precesses at about 1.04 deg/d. It would have been coplanar with our last 2013 orbit of 01044A around March 2014. One of Leo Barhorst's UNIDs of May 24 was very close to 01044A's 2013 plane, so it was reasonable to suspect that it was that object; however, it was a brief observation (~8 s). Björn and Marco observed for 71 s and 30 s respectively; both reported a bright object, which Marco observed to flare brilliantly, a common KeyHole behaviour. Unless I have overlooked some other currently lost object in a secret orbit, it seems likely that the above elements are of 01044A. I claim no infallibility in these matters, so independent review would be prudent and welcome. Ted Molczan _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Sat May 31 2014 - 08:42:50 UTC
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