Observations 09 Nov 2006:
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Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005 lux typical
in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT mode with 128
frame integration.
Used with 145mm focal length f/2.5 lens,integrating for 128 frames
which is equivalent to an exposure of 2.56 seconds per image.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude 33.94058 deg S,
Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
FOR CLASSIFIED.TLE:
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90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193530700 56 15 1819092-393528 39 +080 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193541500 56 15 1828162-391452 39 +080 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193559500 56 15 1843208-383257 39 +075 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193617800 56 15 1858260-374126 39 +075 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193708600 56 15 1938516-343504 39 +080 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193818100 56 15 2027580-290155 39 +075 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109193939900 56 15 2113525-214630 39 +045 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109194037200 56 15 2140170-164003 39 +070 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109194154300 56 15 2208049-103112 39 +075 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109194347100 56 15 2238264-030046 39 +078 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109194745900 56 15 2318594+080505 39 +080 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109195322400 56 15 2351074+173102 39 +085 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109200057400 56 15 0016332+251706 39 +095 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109201559600 56 15 0045380+342032 39 +105 05
90028 04 846A 0433 F 20061109203410800 56 15 0107393+410019 39 +100 05
90058 06 668A 0433 F 20061109212427000 56 15 2253437-173007 39 +090 05
90058 06 668A 0433 F 20061109213328400 56 15 2317137-190533 39 +085 05
90058 06 668A 0433 F 20061109214602400 56 15 2348404-204447 39 +083 05
90058 06 668A 0433 F 20061109215858800 56 15 0020215-215512 39 +083 05
Strays seen :
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OPS 8180 Radcal
06212 72 076A 0433 F 20061109183807000 56 15 2004304+012519 39 +045 05
Delta 2 R/B(1)
20453 90 008B 0433 F 20061109184734500 56 15 2015291+003327 39 +050 05
SL-14 R/B
14820 84 027B 0433 F 20061109192705300 56 15 2059248+010301 39 +045 05
Atlas 2A centaur range 11000 kilometres
25968 99 063B 0433 F 20061109210820700 56 15 2142137-104332 39 +083 05
Thorad Delta 1
08398 74 089CA 0433 F 20061109210820700 56 15 2141334-101331 39 +100 05
Whats this!!!
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00000 00 000A 0433 F 20061109203603500 56 15 2032559-053833 39 -030 05
00000 00 000A 0433 F 20061109203605100 56 15 2033426-050114 39 -030 05
Notes:
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(1) Purpose of the observing session was to find #90028 and #90058
which I missed on the 08th Nov 2006.
#90028 did a slow flare to about mag +4.5 at brightest.
#90058 is an easy object to see, even without having to integrate.
Was going over at apogee ( range about 15000 kilometres). It went
over at about the same time as #25968 which is an Atlas 2A centaur
and optically they appeared very similar so my guess ( not worth
a cent!) is that its a Centaur rocket casing- had slight variations
in magnitude.
(2) Whats this?? -- brilliant satellite - at the time I thought it may
have been ISS but this was nowhere near. I only got two and a half
frames but at the present am 100% convinced it was a satellite but
I cannot find a match in my database. It was brighter than any
satellite seen before and brighter than ISS at this elevation (I
can get an idea of the magnitude by the width of the trace-it was
big!). I am confident that it was not a meteor, certainly not a
bird and not an aircraft. It certainly looked like a satellite!
Moved across the corner of the field of view.
Overall an interesting obseving session. Still have a geostationary
or two to measure
Cheers
Greg
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