Hi Everyone,
Thanks to a long spell of clear weather (tonight is the first
cloudy night in a long time...) I've been able to make a series of
observations of the geoflashers Cosmos 2282 (94-38A) & Gorizont 14 (87-40A).
All observations were with my 6", f6 newtonian at either x28.5 or x45 for
fainter objects.
Here are the PPAS reports for Cosmos 2282:
94- 38 A 02-09-11 04:14 JPH1059.8 0.3 51 20.78 F'F' vm mag+4->inv
94- 38 A 02-09-13 04:26 JPH1639.8 0.2 79 20.756 F'F' vm mag+7->inv
94- 38 A 02-09-14 05:40 JPH1991.4 0.2 96 20.744 F'F' vm mag+6->inv
Flashes got noticibly brighter during observation period. Note: Not seen at
03:45UT, 14-Sep-02 (limiting mag in scope ~+11.5)
94- 38 A 02-09-20 04:35 JPH3266.9 0.2 158 20.677 F'F' mag+8->inv
94- 38 A 02-09-23 05:10 JPH1981.7 0.2 96 20.642 F'F' vm mag+9->inv
94- 38 A 02-09-24 05:05 JPH1588.5 0.2 77 20.630 F'F' mag+9->inv
94- 38 A 02-09-26 04:45 JPH2534.7 0.3 123 20.607 F'F' mag+9->inv
The flash period continues to decrease & the flashes are becoming fainter at
the general time I have been observing, but still within reach of a small
telescope. This geoflasher is still well placed for observations from the N.
& S. America
Gorizont 14:
87- 40 A 02-09-11 05:13 JPH1230.3 0.3 14 87.88 A'A' vm mag+4->inv
Note: half period = 43.94s
87- 40 A 02-09-13 05:03 JPH1317.7 0.3 15 87.85 A'A' mag+6->inv
Note: half period = 43.93s
87- 40 A 02-09-14 04:48 JPH2987.1 0.5 34 87.85 A'A' mag+7->inv
Note: half period = 43.93s
87- 40 A 02-09-17 04:06 JPH1229.8 0.5 28 43.92 A'A' mag+7->inv
87- 40 A 02-09-19 05:01 JPH2020.8 0.5 46 43.93 A'a' mag+7/+10->inv
Only alternate flashes were visible during the first three observations. For
the last observation alternate flashes were mag+10, while the primary flashes
were mag +7. I have noted variability in flash visibility in previous
observations (sometimes it is totally invisible...). This geoflasher has a
fairly rapid westward drift. Currently it is well placed for observations
from Australia and the Far East.
I also had one brief observation of ETS-6 flashing rapidly at a range of
36000km, faint at around mag+11;
94- 56 A 02-09-26 05:15 JPH 472.8 0.5 195 2.425 F'F' N? dtm mag+11->inv
Note I am uncertain of the total number of flashes, since the flashes were
sometimes difficult to make out.
I had some nice observations of Centaur rockets at ranges up to 25000km;
72- 41 B 02-09-14 23:00 JPH 263.0 0.5 10 26.3 A'A' mag+6->inv
81-119 B 02-09-24 03:45 JPH 282.6 0.5 37 7.64 A'A' mag+5->+9
67-001 X 02-09-24 04:22 JPH 423.4 0.5 23 18.41 Aa'=8.7'+9.7' ssm
Best wishes and clear skies,
Jason
(all observations will be submitted seperately to PPAS)
Jason P Hatton, Lat = 37.8835N, Long = 122.5549W, Alt = 20 m
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