New Iridiums seen 11/9 14:04 UT
3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL
Sun, 9 Nov 97 06:27:21 PST
The OIG elsets I got less than an hour before my pass were on time and
right on track.
I saw the new Iridiums as they passed within 1/2 deg of a mag 4.5 star near
Procyon at 14:04:25. I was concerned about the twilight, so I used my small
newtonian scope to see them. There was less than a degree of horizontal sep.
between the objects, so I was able to track two satellites simultaneously
in my 1 deg. field of view. As I tracked one pair, I would pause for
a second or two and wait for the next pair to come into view. All told,
I counted 5 objects, but didn't want to past the 5th object for fear of
losing track. As they culminated 1/2 deg. above Castor near Alt 71 Az 270
they began to brighten somewhat, but would still have been difficult to
see even with binoculars. I lost them in high cirrus clouds shortly
after culmination.
Craig Cholar 3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL
Marina, California
36 41 10.3N, 121 48 17.9W (36.6862, -121.8050) UTC -8