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  #21  
Old July 20th 03, 10:34 AM
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Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

Thanks much for that info, Ed - I will look these objects up in SatSpy.

I have been observing casualy in the Los Angeles area for a number (6?) of
years, but unfortunatly due to horrific light pollution only see the
brighter bojects around dawn. I will try for these for sure!

Brian

"Ed Cannon" wrote in message
...
says...

Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--


I must echo Patty that the Tethered Satellite System in 1996 was
the weirdest, like a fluorescent light crossing the sky. That
was partly what got me started watching satellites. I'll add
the following:

23973 96-029F TiPS (current tethered system, telescope required)
19460 88-078A USA 32 (* note below)
21949 92-023A USA 81 (* note below)
16908 86-061A EGP/Ajisai (echo Bill; and it's easy to see with binocs)

* USA 32 and USA 81 are apparently identical objects that on many of
their passes (as seen from here at least) for a few seconds brighten
a lot and flash madly -- such that Mike McCants calls it "sparkling".
This sparkling is almost always visible without magnification but
of course is better with binocs or telescope. Most of a pass they
are pretty faint with regular flashing every 2 or 3 seconds.

There are a number of other objects that flash rapidly at least
from time to time; some of the best are tumbling (out of service)
Iridiums, whose repeated flashes, some as fast as once per second,
can be almost as bright as regular Iridium flares. See a recent
SeeSat-L message from Daniel Deak (to whose list I'd add SCD 2 and
FAST):

http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Jul-2003/0025.html

Seeing any of the three NOSS 2 trios without binoculars is quite
an odd sight -- a triangle of slow-moving satellites crossing
the sky at a fairly slow pace. My experience is that the best
passes here are southbound evening passes during the summer.
Much of the year, including other summer passes, they can be
very faint, hard to find even with binoculars.

Two other types of things I want to mention a

(1) Centaur stage fuel ventings, which create a temporary artificial
nebula that can be seen without magnification. I've seen two of
them. Some people saw one of these from the Atlas Centaur launch
the other day. There are other things similar to this, including
some Delta and Ariane launches, I believe.

(2) Flaring geosats, including close pairs visible without
magnification. Around the equinoxes, with the optimum dates
depending upon your latitude, many operational 3-axis stabilized
geostationary satellites can brighten by up to ten magnitudes
(!!) for a little while before and after entering the Earth's
shadow. It is quite something to see without magnification a
pair of +3 "stars" that turn out to be standing still while the
real stars move past them (as confirmed by observing them with
binoculars or telescope). Here's a SeeSat-L message of mine
about this phenomenon:

http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2003/0461.html

Ed Cannon - - Austin, Texas, USA
(Remove "donotspam".)
http://wnt.cc.utexas.edu/~ecannon/satellite.htm



  #22  
Old July 20th 03, 10:34 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

Thanks much for that info, Ed - I will look these objects up in SatSpy.

I have been observing casualy in the Los Angeles area for a number (6?) of
years, but unfortunatly due to horrific light pollution only see the
brighter bojects around dawn. I will try for these for sure!

Brian

"Ed Cannon" wrote in message
...
says...

Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--


I must echo Patty that the Tethered Satellite System in 1996 was
the weirdest, like a fluorescent light crossing the sky. That
was partly what got me started watching satellites. I'll add
the following:

23973 96-029F TiPS (current tethered system, telescope required)
19460 88-078A USA 32 (* note below)
21949 92-023A USA 81 (* note below)
16908 86-061A EGP/Ajisai (echo Bill; and it's easy to see with binocs)

* USA 32 and USA 81 are apparently identical objects that on many of
their passes (as seen from here at least) for a few seconds brighten
a lot and flash madly -- such that Mike McCants calls it "sparkling".
This sparkling is almost always visible without magnification but
of course is better with binocs or telescope. Most of a pass they
are pretty faint with regular flashing every 2 or 3 seconds.

There are a number of other objects that flash rapidly at least
from time to time; some of the best are tumbling (out of service)
Iridiums, whose repeated flashes, some as fast as once per second,
can be almost as bright as regular Iridium flares. See a recent
SeeSat-L message from Daniel Deak (to whose list I'd add SCD 2 and
FAST):

http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Jul-2003/0025.html

Seeing any of the three NOSS 2 trios without binoculars is quite
an odd sight -- a triangle of slow-moving satellites crossing
the sky at a fairly slow pace. My experience is that the best
passes here are southbound evening passes during the summer.
Much of the year, including other summer passes, they can be
very faint, hard to find even with binoculars.

Two other types of things I want to mention a

(1) Centaur stage fuel ventings, which create a temporary artificial
nebula that can be seen without magnification. I've seen two of
them. Some people saw one of these from the Atlas Centaur launch
the other day. There are other things similar to this, including
some Delta and Ariane launches, I believe.

(2) Flaring geosats, including close pairs visible without
magnification. Around the equinoxes, with the optimum dates
depending upon your latitude, many operational 3-axis stabilized
geostationary satellites can brighten by up to ten magnitudes
(!!) for a little while before and after entering the Earth's
shadow. It is quite something to see without magnification a
pair of +3 "stars" that turn out to be standing still while the
real stars move past them (as confirmed by observing them with
binoculars or telescope). Here's a SeeSat-L message of mine
about this phenomenon:

http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2003/0461.html

Ed Cannon - - Austin, Texas, USA
(Remove "donotspam".)
http://wnt.cc.utexas.edu/~ecannon/satellite.htm



  #23  
Old July 22nd 03, 04:17 PM
William C. Keel
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Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

Patty Winter wrote:
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?


I'll second the escaped tether from an STS mission as the
oddest thing I've seen. The non-functional and randomly
flashing Iridiums (Iridia?) are also very attention-getting.
And following ISS telescopically even got some exclamations
from a jaded college class...

Bill Keel

  #24  
Old July 22nd 03, 04:17 PM
William C. Keel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

Patty Winter wrote:
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?


I'll second the escaped tether from an STS mission as the
oddest thing I've seen. The non-functional and randomly
flashing Iridiums (Iridia?) are also very attention-getting.
And following ISS telescopically even got some exclamations
from a jaded college class...

Bill Keel

  #25  
Old July 23rd 03, 04:26 AM
Greg Groth
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Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?


"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?


Patty



My wife and I saw the ISS with the shuttle Atlantis trailing it just after
it had un-docked over the USSR last year. I cant remember the date but it
flew over just to the West of us here in Colorado. As for the NOSS sats, I
have seen them here in Colorado at least 6 times and my wife spotted 26905
and 26907 all with the unaided eye. The thin atmosphere at 5000 feet above
sea level and lack of pollution here in Northern Colorado make for
spectacular viewing.


  #26  
Old July 23rd 03, 04:26 AM
Greg Groth
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Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?


"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?


Patty



My wife and I saw the ISS with the shuttle Atlantis trailing it just after
it had un-docked over the USSR last year. I cant remember the date but it
flew over just to the West of us here in Colorado. As for the NOSS sats, I
have seen them here in Colorado at least 6 times and my wife spotted 26905
and 26907 all with the unaided eye. The thin atmosphere at 5000 feet above
sea level and lack of pollution here in Northern Colorado make for
spectacular viewing.


  #27  
Old July 23rd 03, 11:31 PM
Vince Skahan
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Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

In "Greg Groth" writes:
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?



I had a bunch of the kids' friens over one evening and
took them out to see the shuttle docking with Mir.

It was way cool, the two spacecraft were obviously different
colors, and it was cool to see one spacecraft leading on
one orbit, and them switching positions on the next orbit
as they moved toward docking.


--
----------- Vince Skahan -------------- -----------
The DoJ has determined that Linux has established and exploited a monopoly
in the nonproprietary UNIX market by means of predatory zero pricing and
blatantly superior implementation -- Stan Kelly-Bootle
  #28  
Old July 23rd 03, 11:31 PM
Vince Skahan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

In "Greg Groth" writes:
Hey, c'mon everyone--Bill and I aren't the only ones who have
seen weird satellites! Who else has seen something interesting--
either one we've mentioned or a different one?



I had a bunch of the kids' friens over one evening and
took them out to see the shuttle docking with Mir.

It was way cool, the two spacecraft were obviously different
colors, and it was cool to see one spacecraft leading on
one orbit, and them switching positions on the next orbit
as they moved toward docking.


--
----------- Vince Skahan -------------- -----------
The DoJ has determined that Linux has established and exploited a monopoly
in the nonproprietary UNIX market by means of predatory zero pricing and
blatantly superior implementation -- Stan Kelly-Bootle
  #29  
Old July 24th 03, 06:44 PM
Patty Winter
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Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

In article ,
William C. Keel wrote:

I'll second the escaped tether from an STS mission as the
oddest thing I've seen. The non-functional and randomly
flashing Iridiums (Iridia?) are also very attention-getting.


Bill, do you happen to know the satellite numbers of the
ones that are only flashing randomly? I presume that's
because they're tumbling?


Patty

  #30  
Old July 24th 03, 06:44 PM
Patty Winter
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default New User - Weirdest Sats or Objects You Have Observed?

In article ,
William C. Keel wrote:

I'll second the escaped tether from an STS mission as the
oddest thing I've seen. The non-functional and randomly
flashing Iridiums (Iridia?) are also very attention-getting.


Bill, do you happen to know the satellite numbers of the
ones that are only flashing randomly? I presume that's
because they're tumbling?


Patty

 




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