Observed IMAGE, #26113, from Falcon, CO USA in my 8" telescope starting about 04:58 UT, 15 Oct 2000. Observed for about seven minutes. Range at first sighting around 25840 km and magnitude around 11. Skymap phase angle 167.5. Standard magnitude about 5. I timed numerous flashes over about 6.5 minutes to yield a period of 15.3 seconds. Partway through, I noted that occasional flashes were sharp as opposed to others that were more gradual. I did not determine if there was a set pattern to the sharp flashes. I would assume that if observed again that the sharp flash might occur every minute. Knowing if the true rotation rate is one minute or 30 or 15 seconds would be helpful. Because of problems with moonlight, it was difficult following IMAGE so some flashes may have been missed. My data suggests no missing flash on any 15 second point but a better observing session is needed to confirm this. My preliminary analysis is that all four solar arrays are still attached. It is possible that the sharp flash might be coming from the detached array. Again, further help from the spacecraft operator is desirable. For example, are there any other surfaces that might reflect enough sunlight to substitute for a detached/missing solar array? PPAS Input: 00- 17 A 00-10-15 05:04 RGL 382.5 1.0 25 15.3 Ron Lee PS. Just because perigee is in the southern hemisphere, don't count out the observers with positive latitudes. :) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Oct 15 2000 - 09:50:12 PDT