Hi all, I've finally managed to get observation reporting going on Heavens-Above, and I've set up a special set of pages for Starshine 3. There is an observation entry page (only for registered users) and observations can be listed from all observers (open to everyone). The help and instructions are still rather weak, but I've added links to the help pages at the Starshine project home page, and the Visual Satellite Observers Home Page which also has a very good introduction to making satellite observations. I am sure there will be a few bugs found, but I thought it better to get the pages live rather than wait even longer trying to iron out every problem first. The database already contains several thousand observations from Seesat postings and also from lists which individual observers have sent to me. The positional observation reporting is definitely more advanced than the optometric, but this will change in the future. When a positional observation is entered, the residual position error (i.e. angular difference between reported observation and the position computed according to Spacecom elements) is displayed which should help people to spot obvious errors. Observations can be edited once entered. It is possible to extract the reported observations from the database in formats which can be fed directly into freeware programs such as ELCOR and FITELEM. With regard to orbit determination for Starshine 3, I share Tony's concerns that the occasional flashes produced will not allow very accurate positional measurements to be made. When a satellite is constantly visible, it's possible to anticipate when it will cross the imaginary line between two closely spaced stars, and this greatly improves both the timing and position estimates. With irregular flashes, and complete invisibility between, observers will probably have to use the naked eye to get a large enough field of view to spot the flashes. This means they won't be able to see so many reference stars, and when a flash does occur, they will take time to react and must remember where the flash was seen. I'm still waiting for Starshine to start making visible passes over Germany so I can get out and take a look myself. In the meantime - start those observations coming! Chris Chris Peat, Heavens-Above GmbH E-Mail: chris.peat@heavens-above.com Web-site: www.heavens-above.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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