Sinosat 1 Rk (98-44B)?
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Sat, 23 Oct 1999 04:17:20 -0500
Friday evening (about 1:19 Oct 23 UTC) I was looking early for
Cosmos 2172 and happened to see a tumbling object with about +5
maxima, which turned out to have a period of about 6.1 seconds,
going away to the east. The best candidate seems to be Sinosat
1 Rk (25405, 98-44B, a CZ-3B R/B with RCS=21.9 m^2). There's
nothing yet in the online PPAS data. Has anyone else observed
that object? I've seen a few other CZ-3s, some flashing to
one-power brightness.
My Friend, the Oak Tree
Later I observed Cosmos 2172 and Gorizont 23 again -- with the
help of an oak tree! I positioned myself so that the Moon was
behind branches of the tree (which still has plenty of leaves),
and given that both of these objects flash to about +4 (for a
little while at least), this crazy observing method worked.
Observing site was 30.3068N, 97.7267W, 150m.
Cosmos 2172 (91-79A, 21789) is fading out a few minutes earlier
each night. Early today (Oct 23 UTC) I found it at about 2:22,
and the last flash I was able to see in my 10x50s was at about
3:06:06. Wednesday evening (Oct 21 UTC), the last flash I was
able to see in 10x50s was at about 3:25:07, which would make it
getting too faint about 9.5 minutes or so earlier each evening
(including increasing moonlight?). Thursday night (Oct 22 UTC)
Mike McCants and I observed it in his 8-inch telescope, and the
last flash I recorded, which was about +10, was at about 3:29:09.
According to Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica, Cosmos 2172
is a "Potok" military communications satellite with a mass of
2150 kg that originally was stationed at 13 degrees west with an
inclination of 0.3 degrees:
http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~mwade/chrono/19914.htm#4237
I couldn't find Superbird A last night -- probably was looking
at the wrong time. The Moon was 15 or 20 degrees away, I think.
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA
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