Naxing 1 R/B (04012C) and 03054B

In spite of cirrus clouds that grew steadily worse after sunset and a fairly
bright moon in Leo, I was able to get outside to the back yard and make observe
passes of a couple of interesting objects this evening (Friday May 28th).

First (thanks to Bill Thompson for pointing this one out) I set the 7 X 35
binoculars on Cygnus at 10:45 PM (CST) and spotted the same object posted in
his report, Naxing 1 R/B 2004-012C. This rocket booster emerged from shadow in
the heart of the Cygnus Milky Way and passed between Gamma and Delta Cygni,
headed north toward Cepheus. As he wrote, it flashes in brightness. I saw it as
bright as 3.0 magnitude and it dimmed almost to invisibility. The brightest
flash came soon after it appeared out of shadow. Other peaks were at about 3.5
magnitude or so. The period seemed to be about 3 seconds between flashes,
though this is a very crude estimate. I also saw that the period seemed
irregular and the peaks in brightness were not all the same. Are we looking at
an object that's tumbling in a chaotic way? It was a fantastic sight.

I was interested to read that in the Heavens Above web site, this object is
called "Unknown Object B", and the rocket booster is listed as 2004-012B. I
assume that the actual satellite is 2004-012A. I mention this because about
half and hour after spotting the first object I had an opportunity to look for
both of the others, since both would be passing Ursa Minor about four minutes
apart. In spite of gazing at the area shown on the HA website, I failed to see
either of these. Maybe the cirrus clouds were getting too thick, maybe my watch
is off. Or maybe they're fainter than I thought they would be. It's a shame.

Even though the cirrus became a veil over the whole sky, I was able to
observe one more rocket booster, the Atlas 2AS Centaur RB 2003-054B. Just after
midnight it passed through Bootes, overhead, and I was able to watch it through
the binoculars. This one was an interesting flasher too, peaking at about 4.0
magnitude and slipping to 6.0 or fainter (though never invisible), with a
fairly long period, very roughly 12 seconds between peaks. This is one worth
hunting down again!

Much earlier in the evening I was able to observe a pass of the ISS, a
beautiful light in the sky of -2.0 magnitude (I compared it to Jupiter) that
sailed from the northwest horizon through Ursa Major and Bootes before slowly
fading out of sight in Serpens.

Paul Zeller
Indianapolis, IN
Lat. 39.66 N / Long. 86.0503 W / Elevation 835 ft.