Bruce MacDonald asked whether or not he might have mistaken a different satellite for USA 81 (21949, 92-023A), a well-known flasher: > Magnitude seemed stable at around 5.5 at culmination (my > estimate). Does the flashing behaviour of this sat depend on > the sun/observer geometry? Or was I mistaking another sat > for this one? Russell Eberst has reported 773 observations of USA 81; it was steady in only two cases; in all others it was rapidly flashing or varying regularly in brightness. Cosmos 2082 culminated 2 min later than USA 81, at about the same azimuth, but about 6 deg lower. At that point, it would have appeared to travel in roughly the same direction. Russell has reported 169 observations - always steady, and its standard magnitude is consistent with your observation: Cosmos 2082 6.0 2.0 0.0 5.6 v 14.5 1 20624U 90046A 03310.10672854 -.00000071 00000-0 -12612-4 0 9517 2 20624 71.0398 175.9679 0014041 45.0239 315.2020 14.13658237694407 Are you sufficiently certain of your observation time and sky-position to rule out this object? Ted Molczan ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from SeeSat-L, send a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org List archived at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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