Nice photo Marco! USA 129 can be a spectacular sight given the right sun-object-observer geometry. I have noticed that it flares brightly when at high elevation and with my back to the sun, giving a nice full phase. I found an interesting website run by a guy who images the ISS but he has also tried to image classified sats. There are pics and video at this page: http://www.zen32156.zen.co.uk/usa129.htm The Lacrosse images show more evidence of structure: http://www.zen32156.zen.co.uk/lacrosse.htm Best wishes Bruce Bruce MacDonald COSPAR Site 2751 Devizes, Wiltshire, UK 51.3440 N 1.9849 W 125m (WGS84) Marco Langbroek wrote: > > Just 40 minutes ago SatTrackCam Leiden captured USA 129 (96-072A) while it was > flaring brightly in the zenith near 20:36:10 UTC: > > http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/satellites/USA129.jpg > > Maximum brightness of about mag -1.5 was a few seconds after the end of this > 10.7 second exposure, which shows it brightening rapidly. Very nice to see > visually! Observing conditions: clear but somewhat hazy. > > A second exposure starting at 20:36:40.8 UTC only shows a faint trail. > > Will start to measure the image right away, positions will follow later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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