Steve Hannah wrote: > Hi to all the list, I`m a keen if spasmodic viewer of satellites passing > above Richmond, Nelson, New Zealand (41.3330°S, 173.1830°E) Welcome to SeeSat-L, Steve! > tonight , about 22:25 GMT +13 [2004 Nov 07, 09:25 UTC], I saw three > satellites moving at the same speed, in close proximity to one another > ( a hand at arms length covered them, not sure what that is in degrees ), > they were travelling approx SW to NE & all had much the same brightness, > about magnitude 3 .I`d have put their altitude at about 75 degrees. Their > relative positions did not appear to cange in the time I observed them, > maybe 2 minutes. You saw the NOSS 2-2 triad, a known formation of three U.S. satellites. NOSS stands for Naval Ocean Surveillance System, which consists of several satellite formations, each having two or three satellites in close proximity to one another. Normally these satellites are relatively dim to the unaided eye, but on occasion they brighten sufficiently to be easily seen in a dark sky. Here is the Heavens-Above prediction of the pass you observed: http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?SatID=21799&lat=-41.333&lng=173.183 &alt=11&loc=Nelson&TZ=NZST&Date=38298.3940692293 The following web page provides more information on the NOSS satellites: http://www.satobs.org/noss.html Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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