Re: Observations Fri Eve. July 17

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• Maybe in reply to: Robert Sheaffer: "Observations Fri Eve. July 17"

In a message dated 7/18/98 5:21:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sheaffer@netcom.com writes:

>   05:27 UT  Looked for, but did not see naked eye, USA 129 (24680). 
>              Expected mag 3.5, elevation 62 deg.
>  
>    05:32:01  Unexpected satellite, Mag 2, moving W to E crossing the line
>              from Gamma to Beta Ursa Majoris, closer to the latter. Faded
>              or went into shadow soon afterward. Unlikely to be USA 129
>              unless current elset is off by several degrees.

Using the following elset:
USA 129           15    3    0 5.1               1006 x 261
1 24680U 96072A   98194.88891374  .00020000  00000-0  18870-3 0    05
2 24680  97.9890 255.1074 0531004 109.8018 250.1981 14.78598478    05

USA 129 was right on time - passing below Arcturus at 22:34:48 EDT (02:34:48
UT, 19 July). It was a solid +2.0 mag as it passed below Arcturus.

I also observed SL-16 R/B (25400, 98043G).  It was another northbound pass -
this time in the eastern sky.  It was a steady +1.5 until about 22:37:20 EDT
(02:37:20 UT, 19 July), at which time it began to flash at about a 6 second
period.  

Cheers.
Don Gardner
Homepage: http://members.aol.com/mir16609/
76.8419 W, 39.1796 N,  34m ASL

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