USA 186 / 8xUSA 245 - Hi-res images

new images of USA 186 and USA 245, including my first color image of a KH



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
USA 245:


1.May:
https://www.astrobin.com/cihdno/
The surface seems flat and rectangular.
My guess would be that this could be a solar panel, it seems to be mounted
on the side of the optical tube.
Dimensions I measured are:
-length ~11.4m (total length)
-width: ~3m
-instrument/propulsion section length: ~4m (the bright part)

There also seems to be a kind of long/thin extension on the
instrument/propulsion section.
My guess would be a communications antenna or something similar.

Here is an annotated image of my measurements:
https://www.astrobin.com/cihdno/C/



2.May:
https://www.astrobin.com/xtsdlx/
Also has a bright dot at the upper end of the tube, like USA 186.
Dimensions I measured are:
-length ~11.4m (total length)
-instrument/propulsion section length: ~4.7m (the bright part)
Though here the satellite is seen at a visibly larger angle, hard to say
which exactly, so these length measurements aren't that accurate.
I've split the post into two parts since I lost the satellite while it was
rising, and only locked onto it again while it was descending.



11.May:
https://www.astrobin.com/eik03w/
Optical tube looks angled, not round, seems to be around 4.5m in width.
At a phase angle of around 68°, the optical tube disappears. After this
only a point source, with a diffraction ring around it can be seen.



12.May:
https://www.astrobin.com/hu66oo/
Also shows the same detail on the optical tube as the obs from the 11th.
I've split the post into two parts since I lost the satellite while it was
rising, and only locked onto it again while it was descending.



13.May:
https://www.astrobin.com/d41sxk/
Also shows the same detail on the tube as the obs from the 11th.
Total length is also ~12m, the optical tube also seems to be around 4-5m in
width.
Some parts of the animation are blurry due to bad tracking of the telescope.



3.September:
https://www.astrobin.com/lalquh/
Also similar measurements, about 12-13m long in total with the
instrument/propulsion section being ~5m long.
Towards the end the optical tube seems to get eclipsed.



4.September:
https://www.astrobin.com/82n1pb/
Low elevation pass at bigger range, flares towards the end.



20.September:
https://www.astrobin.com/085bq6/
First good color image I took of it, it's at a similar orientation as the
3.September observation.
It shows the instrument/propulsion section is brighter and has a
whitish-metallic color to it, probably due to being covered with shiny
silver coloured MLI similar to the HST.
The optical assembly and the small dot on top of the instrument/propulsion
section share the same color which seems to be a kind of red/brown color
similar to a solar panel or MLI wrap.
Dimensions i measured are:
total length: ~13.5m (counting the small dot on the instrument/propulsion
section)
optical assembly: ~7m

animation:
https://www.astrobin.com/085bq6/B/


ISS image from the same night for color reference, all images with
same color balance & saturation settings:
https://www.astrobin.com/085bq6/C/
The ISS & lower USA 245 images are scaled at 100%, the top is scaled at
400% like in the animation.


widefield video:
https://www.astrobin.com/085bq6/D/
(1sec exposures)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
USA 186:


28.April:
https://www.astrobin.com/nyajap/
Shows similar brightness variations as my 30.August observation from last
year.
The details aren't great due to bad seeing, but the shape is still visible
well enough to see how the shadows fall over the satellite's body, and
therefore hides its optical tube.
Seems like it's pointing down, the bright part at the top is the
instrument/propulsion section.

widefield video:
https://www.astrobin.com/nyajap/B/
(1sec exposures)



10.April:
Additionally, I also re-processed my image from 10.April since I had some
of the stacking parameters set wrongly back when I first
processed&posted it.
The new version shows the details a bit better.

I measured the width of the optical tube to be around 4m, so this makes me
think that there might be a panel mounted onto the side of the tube.
This could be the same kind of panel I observed on USA 245 on 1.May.

new post:
https://www.astrobin.com/rcl786/

animation:
https://www.astrobin.com/rcl786/B/



old post:
https://www.astrobin.com/w59qb2/




Raw data on request.


Kind regards, Felix S.

_______________________________________________
Seesat-l mailing list
https://lists.seesatmail.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l