At 09:45 PM 21/10/01 , Jim Stamm wrote: >I was walking near Tucson (Long.=-109.9 Lat.=32.4) on October 21 at >about 11:20 UTC watching for Orionids when I noticed a ³stationary² >flashing satellite at approximately R.A.=3h 38m Dec.=-12d. Without a >watch, my best guess is that the close to first magnitude flashes were >spaced about 6.5 seconds apart. I saw maybe a dozen flashes before they >quickly dimmed to invisibility. Can anyone identify this object for me? >Iım also wondering if I detected a very slight eastward movement in the >two minutes of observation. This was 94 56A known as ETS-6, a well known flasher Jim. Your time was withhin 2 seconds and your position within 0.2 degrees which is spot on. The eastwards movement was probably real. This is in a geosynchronous but not geostationary orbit ( it does 5 orbits in 3 days or 1 2/3 orbits per day). So in 3 days time it will do the same thing some 12minutes earlier in same part of sky. I will post more detailed predictions to you privately. The satellite is a failed Japanese enginnering test comsat that didnt get to GEO orbit because the apogee motor ( a test item) didnt work. The enginees used the satellite station keeping engine to put it into this orbit so they could test of the satellite transmitters. The flashes come from the solar panels on either side of satellite. The spin period has been decreasing ever since the engineers went on to other things. Here are the latest orbital elements in the usual form. Its inclination is 12.0 degrees to the equator. I was following this object in 1998 and 1999 but the flash interval is now so short its hard to keep track of. Another flasher in near GEO orbit you might find in the evenings is superbird A. It flashes around 03:15UT, and is currently rather low in the east from Arizona. Several list members have seen it in last week. Tony Beresford Adelaide, So. Aust( 34.9638S, 138.633E) ETS 6 1 23230U 94056A 01291.03388685 -.00000062 00000-0 10000-3 0 9384 2 23230 11.9904 253.7835 5090258 230.5714 72.1458 1.67094255 43698 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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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