Dear List, I'm new to this list so please forgive any lack of specifics or correct jargon. My observation point is close to Nambour Queensland in Australia ( Coordinates: 26.6330° S, 152.9500° E) At 10:50 UTC on the 23rd December I saw three satellites travelling in line in a NNE direction from about 80 degrees alt. They entered the earth's shadow fairly quickly. They were equidistant from each other and spanned roughly the same distance as the belt of Orion. I would put their magnitude as roughly equivalent to the brightest stars visible in the constellation of the Pleiades whose position was near to the satellites' path. They appeared to be travelling directly in line (along the axis of their path) and at exactly the same speed suggesting that they were at the same height. Amazingly about two minutes later two more satellites travelling virtually on the same path and apparently at the same speed as each other passed overhead in the same direction . They weren't exactly in line though as the other three were. Their magnitude appeared to be equal to some off the dimmer stars in the Pleiades. The only event I have heard about in the news that may have coincided with this event was the docking of a "transport" space vehicle with the ISS. But this wouldn't explain the appearance of five satellites in succession. I have never seen anything like this before. Any ideas? Cheers Lee Emerson ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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