... > The double asterisks denote what appeared to be the brightest > flashes of both series and the single asterisks indicate a > flash brighter than the others except the double asterisks, odd > that every other flash on this series was brighter than the ones > in between? > ... Not odd at all, the rotation period is 22.71 or longer (JN), 22.750 (JDG). This is evident by Don's obs of the mystery panel flashes before the main series, and by Rob Matson's analysis. The solar panel normals are pointing very close to 90 degrees off the rotation axis. So when the panels give a "perfect" specular flash, the back side (possibly a different surface) half a spin period later is pointing about 0.6 degrees off the best position. A few minutes later, the geometry has shifted so that the other surface is "best", and the original flash series has become fainter. Another few minutes later, both angles are too large for flashes to be seen. This "hand-over" is the phase shift, as it is termed, and is the best event for accurate analysis. (89-041A, 20040) Ed's ASC 1 (85-76C, 15994) observation shows a 2/3 period phase shift, so these flash series must come from "unrelated" surfaces. /Björn ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Nov 06 2001 - 04:59:06 EST