Re: iridium 14 tumbler?
Ralph McConahy (rmcconahy@earthlink.net)
Tue, 20 Oct 1998 12:25:01 -0700
I too attempted to observe a predicted flare from Iridium 14 last night and
noticed instead a number of bright flashes similar to what Rich described. I
notice that some Iridium elsets includes the "?" in line zero of the Iridium
14 tle which means it is not at an operational altitude.
Ralph McConahy
34.8829N 117.0064W 670m
>
> It appears that Iridium 14 ? = 24836 = 97-30A has an orientation
>problem. I looked for a predicted monster flare from this
>object, and instead saw a series of about 8 flashes spaced at 5
>second intervals. The peak flashes were magnitude -1.5. Also
>note that its mean motion is 14.3424, compared to the nominal
>14.3421. Here's the Iridflar output for my site:
> Ir Date Time Az El Sun Ant Flar Vis Peak Stand
> UT elev Angle Mag Mag Mag
> 14? 98-10-18 02:30:00 014 23 -25.2 L 0.18 -6.8 -7.0 -8.1
>
> Cheers, Rich Keen
> Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, USA (39.877 N, 105.391 W, elevation
>2728m)
>