Satellite ID if Possible

Hello,

I am at 39.260 lat and -81.530 long. At appx 9:50 UT today I was observing
Cosmos 1707 through binoculars as it was approaching the NE horizon at an
azimuth and altitude of about 15 degrees.

At that time I observed another satellite rising up from the horizon at
nearly the same location. It traveled from this point in a SE direction
moving below Saturn and through Canis Minor. Magnitude was approximately
4.5 - 5.0.

Any help in identifying this satellite would be appreciated.

P.L.

If you go to www.heavens-above.com and enter your latitude and
longitude, and select 4.5 as the limiting magnitude, you can
see a list of upcoming satellite passes. When you get that page,
click on "Prev. PM" and you'll see last night's passes.

I know that you can adjust the limiting magnitude by tweaking
the URL manually. Does anyone know of a way to do it from the
H-A interface?


Patty

"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...
If you go to www.heavens-above.com and enter your latitude and
longitude, and select 4.5 as the limiting magnitude, you can
see a list of upcoming satellite passes. When you get that page,
click on "Prev. PM" and you'll see last night's passes.

I know that you can adjust the limiting magnitude by tweaking
the URL manually. Does anyone know of a way to do it from the
H-A interface?


Patty


Patty;

Thanks for the note but I was already using the H/A listing for satellites
4.5 and brighter when I saw the unidentified satellite. It was probably
slightly dimmer than 4.5. With binoculars during a period of good seeing my
limiting mag is probably around 6.


Saw six satellites (and a meteor) this morning with the last being a
nice -0.8 passover by the ISS, moving from the middle of the Square of
Pegasus into the incoming outer bands of Hurricane Frances. Weatherman says
clouded out until Friday night...


P.L.

Pokey Latrobe wrote:

Thanks for the note but I was already using the H/A listing for satellites
4.5 and brighter when I saw the unidentified satellite. It was probably
slightly dimmer than 4.5. With binoculars during a period of good seeing my
limiting mag is probably around 6.

If you go to http://www.donbarry.org/ you can get predictions for
satellites down to magnitude 6. donbarry.org isn't as user-friendly
as H-A (no sky maps; lots of co-ordinates and times for each pass).
However, you can use donbarry.org to identify the dimmer satellites,
and then look them up on H-A.

--Bill Thompson

In article ,
Pokey Latrobe wrote:

Thanks for the note but I was already using the H/A listing for satellites
4.5 and brighter when I saw the unidentified satellite. It was probably
slightly dimmer than 4.5. With binoculars during a period of good seeing my
limiting mag is probably around 6.

So did you try adjusting H-A to search down to mag. 6?


Saw six satellites (and a meteor) this morning with the last being a
nice -0.8 passover by the ISS, moving from the middle of the Square of
Pegasus into the incoming outer bands of Hurricane Frances.

Cool!


Patty

Patty Winter wrote:

Pokey Latrobe wrote:

Thanks for the note but I was already using the H/A listing for satellites
4.5 and brighter when I saw the unidentified satellite. It was probably
slightly dimmer than 4.5. With binoculars during a period of good seeing my
limiting mag is probably around 6.

So did you try adjusting H-A to search down to mag. 6?

Is there a way to do that? I can't get it below magnitude 5.0

--Bill Thompson

"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...

So did you try adjusting H-A to search down to mag. 6?




Patty, please explain a little further how this adjustment is made.

thanks,

P.L.

"Pokey Latrobe" wrote in message
...

"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...

So did you try adjusting H-A to search down to mag. 6?




Patty, please explain a little further how this adjustment is made.

thanks,

P.L.


Disregard, I figured it out. The gain in one half a magnitude certainly
offers more viewing opportunities.

Thanks again

P.L.

Pokey Latrobe wrote:

Disregard, I figured it out. The gain in one half a magnitude certainly
offers more viewing opportunities.

H-A's "select a satellite" function offers more possibilities. It's a
cumbersome way to look for nightly viewing opportunities, but
if you want to look for a particular satellite, you can enter its name
and plan ahead. (The magnitudes on some satellites go down to
the point where you need a very large scope and good aim to spot them.)
(And I think they're kidding on the magnitude of ANNA 1B.)

The year function will let you look at all the satellites launched
in any year. Enter 04 and you'll find the MESSENGER probe,
along with its boosters. For some reason the page lists
MESSENGER and its final stage as still in Earth orbit, but you
can still find the Delta second stage.

--Bill Thompson