>
>> "I was able to see much more of Telstar 401's flash
episode
>> earlier tonight, from about RA 23:50 to 00:15,
roughly.
>> The brightest maxima may have been zero magnitude. ...
>
> I'd like to try from up here in Tulsa tonight since it will be
clear.
> I presume you expect flashes 6 min earlier tonight also?
> Is there much of a correction due to
latitude?
>
> +36.1
-95.9
The points I have 2002-01-08 to 2004-02-28 all agree well,
but Ed's new obs disagrees 3-4 degrees, mainly in declination.
Since the path of the flash rotation and the satellite track
are both roughly parallell to the declination circles, the
prediction is very sensitive to changes.
With a slight correction to match Ed's obs, I get his
position predicted, and also a second event near RA 5:00.
The back side (?) may also cause flashes at dusk near RA 19:30.
If one of these can be found (or observations late 2004-early
2005 can be retrieved) I can make a much better prediction.
With the current guestimate, Ed's event would have about
the same daily change at nearby latitudes.
The effect of +10E longitude is about RA +00:06, dec.+0.2, time +0:12
+5(!)N is RA -00:16, dec. -0.7, time -0:17
My prediction results in a daily change of RA +00:04:30,
but since the satellite is 0:04 earlier/day at a fixed RA,
I get a net effect of +0:00:30 in time. Ed's -0:06 in time
requires a change of -00:02 in RA, the flash path and track
must intersect in the other direction, and my RA/dec changes
for lat/long would get reversed signs, and half the size!
It would also mean that a larger change, than the 3-4 degree
discrepancy suggests, is needed for the axis/cone angles,
and requires more observations to revise the model :-(
Please give RA/dec and time to at least 00:01/0.2 00:01 accuracy.
/Björn
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