Hello there- I seem to be having trouble identifying two iridium satellites. Iridflar calculated the following predictions: Latitude: 51.98300 Longitude: 4.46700 Altitude: -5.0 m Time Zone: UTC +2.0 h Iridium Coordinates Range Sat Solar Flare Peak Std Maximum Flare Bearing Ir# S Date Local Time Azm El RA Decl (km) N Ill Azm Elev M Angle Mag Mag Mag Latitude Longitude (km) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 ? 2002-10-14 20:32:15.0 016 37 5h32 71.7 1096.6 A Lit 278 -15.8 L 3.38 1.9 -7.8 1.5 52.1200 5.4339 64.9 E 66 2002-10-14 20:32:32.0 015 36 5h44 71.3 1210.8 A Lit 278 -15.9 L 2.85 1.6 -7.6 0.9 52.1424 5.3699 60.2 E This is what I saw: The first satellite appeared fairly early, heading north and flaring around 20:32:15, it was a bit brighter than I expected. This satellite only faded slowly, and at a few seconds later the second satellite appeared, about two degrees ahead of the first. It flared around 20:32:30, not as bright as the first one. Actually, at the maximum of the second flare, the first satellite was about as bright as the second. The second satellite faded quickly, but the first was still clearly visible until 20:32:50. Everything nicely matches the predictions, but there's a problem. I've been watching flares at this position in the sky for about a week now, and I noticed the flare times are regularly 15 seconds before or after the predicted times. How do I know for sure which satellite was which? (I'm not very good at reading TLEs.) And what about the deviating prediction times? -Peter _________________________________________________________________ Get a speedy connection with MSN Broadband. Join now! http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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