I observed it for a number of minutes at about +4.0 (maybe +3.5) magnitude with no magnification. I was just scanning the flaring geosat area (from roughly RA 20:30 to 0:30, dec -5) with binoculars to remind myself of the asterisms that I use there, and Galaxy 11 was already bright when I happened to notice it. Mike wasn't using his telescope at that particular moment, and so I aimed it at Galaxy 11. Then Mike looked at it and informed me that it had a fainter friend beside it, which was Intelsat 805 (98-37A, 25371). I actually first noticed it at about RA 22:56, Dec. -5, at about 2:59 UTC. I saw another, fainter one later, but I haven't yet identified it. Later, TOPEX (92-52A, 22076) put on a nice flashing show. At least one of the flashes was -1 magnitude. Location was BCRC: 30.315N, 97.866W. It was a very pretty evening, with the Milky Way visible from the suburban location. It's not as dark as it was 15 years ago, but it's still pretty nice when the weather is very good. Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
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