Re: ERS-1 photographed by SPOT-4

Bart De Pontieu (bdp@lists.satellite.eu.org)
Thu, 3 Sep 1998 11:43:38 -0700 (PDT)

On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, Allen Thomson wrote:

> The  "premi=E8re dans l=92histoire de l=92observation spatiale"  probably=
 isn't,
> as there have been reports for many years that US spysats have performed
> such tricks, notably in the case of STS-1. But this is the first open and
> confirmed example of such satellite-to-satellite imagery that I know of
> (other than in rendezvous, of course).

I have indications that TRACE (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer)
which is normally used to observe the Sun in ultraviolet and extreme
ultraviolet light has seen several artificial satellites pass in front of
the sun. Despite the help of Rob Matson and the orbital
elements a dozen SeeSat-L subscribers have sent me back in June, I have
been unable to identify the satellite(s) in question -- so far. One of the
problems I encountered is that I have no way of predicting geostationary
satellites accurately, and some of the candidates were geosats.

Anyway, suffice it to say that the TRACE images of the Sun with a streak
in front of the Sun can hardly count as 'imaging', but I thought it was
pretty neat when I saw the images for the first time. :-)

Cheers,
     Bart, bart@satellite.eu.org

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Bart De Pontieu   --   bdp@lmsal.com   --   http://www.lmsal.com/TRACE=20
Solar Physicist at Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Lab, Palo Alto
bart@satellite.eu.org -- www2.satellite.eu.org/satintro.html
!!!!!  Join us at Eurosom 3, Edinburgh, UK, October 24/25, 1998  !!!!!
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