New User 2
Wayne T Hally (wayne.t.hally@bangate.TEK.COM)
Wed, 24 Sep 97 17:08:23 EDT
Hmmm, well I'm another newbie to serious satellite observing as well. I
come to this subject by way of meteor observing, since I spend many hours
just staring up at the sky, particularly in the early morning hours when
meteor rates are the highest. As a result, I see many satellite passes,
which I recently started logging in my raw meteor data notebook. Up until
now, I have only been recording time, direction of motion, and
magnitude...I guess I'll be expanding that information. Since I also plot
the meteors on Gnomic maps, I suppose I could add the satellite paths as
well! I've always been curious about which ones I was seeing. Now I';ll
have to figure out how to use all the tools mentioned here to identify
them.
My biggest beef in satellite-land is the Iridium flares, since they
resemble what is a rare meteoric event- the point meteor (one coming
directly at you...hence no motion). Can someone tell me when they were
first launched? I now need to go back through my data to see if it is
possible any of the 2 or 3 point meteors I've recorded could come from
these (^&%(^%&%^$& Iridiums. To me it's just more manmade light pollution,
although I suppose to you satellite observers, they're a lot of fun.
Anyhow, I'm going to go back to lurking for a while, until I learn
what goes on here. Should anyone witness a fireball brightness meteor (-4
and brighter), please consider filing a fireball report @ www.imo.net, or
contact me and I'll help. Happy to help with any other meteor related
questions anyone might have as well.
Clear skies to us all
Wayne T Hally
High Bridge, NJ USA
NJ Astro Assoc Meteor Research Coordinator
North American Meteor Network
ALPO Meteor Section
International Meteor Organization