As previously reported, I observed 96072A on one pass last night, 2002 Sep 13 UTC. Not previously reported is that it did not appear when I attempted to observe it on my second pass. I attempted to intercept it at 03:21:03 UTC, about 4 s after it should have exited the penumbra of Earth's shadow. The predicted magnitude was about 6.4, and I could easily see stars to at least mag 8. Until this morning, I thought that I had missed it because I had used the wrong reference stars. I did not have much time to get pointed at the intercept co-ordinates because I had to wait for a small patch of cloud to clear the area. As the time of the intercept approached, I still had doubts that I was pointed at the correct stars. When the object failed to appear, my first reaction was that I had been pointed in the wrong place. I waited for perhaps one minute, in case the object had made a second manoeuvre. I doubt that the object would have made a manoeuvre during the interval between my two passes that would have caused it to be more than about 10 s late. This morning, I reviewed the situation, and found that I had been pointed accurately. I now believe that the most likely explanation for the non-appearance was that the object may have been fainter than normal (not uncommon for this object), and perhaps still partly in the penumbra. My eclipse algorithm has proven to be fairly accurate, but it is not infallible. Since I do not have a solid explanation for the non-appearance, I have decided it best to report it, so that observers can be alert to the possibility; however small, that it may have manoeuvred a second time. Ted Molczan ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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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