Hi Peter, Yes, this is common for Lacrosse 5 (some other Lacrosses show it too, but to a much lesser extent). It can go from +2 to +4 or fainter in only 2-3 seconds sometimes. Search in the list archives a bit, there are several posts on it. We call it the "disappearance trick" of L5. All of the Lacrosses also show occasional flares, which (unlike the dimming) are predictable to some extend thanks to the work of Philip Masding. I believe Calsky.com has a mode for Lacrosse flare predictions. We have speculated here on the list on what accounts for the dimming, as that is not yet quite clear. Either some large appendage starts to cast a shadow over the main body, or maybe it is due to the reorientation of an antenna on the body. - Marco Difflimited@aol.com schreef: > hi--just a casual observer thus far. caught pass of Lacrosse 5 (time of max > alt.)sept 1, 0100 UTC. from ophiuchus to Albireo it showed slow but > substantial dimming twice...near albireo it brightened to mag 1. (predicted ~2.4). > pretty constant diminution in mag.as it flew thru cygnus ...lacerta. The color > also seemed to shift from basically white (in scorpius) to light orange (after > passing ophiuchus) > Is this common behavior for Lacrosse 5? What accounts for it? > Thx in advance-- > peterG ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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