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(meteorobs) Fw: 10th Circular IAU Com. 22
10th CIRCULAR TO MEMBERS OF THE PRO-AMAT WORKING GROUP OF IAU COM. 22
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Date: February 14, 1999
Dear meteor colleague,
The satellite "Starshine" is in a decay orbit at the moment and
predicted to be ablated in the atmosphere around February 18. The
last prediction by Alan Pickup is Friday Feb. 18 at 12:58 UT, but
the uncertainty is still about +/- 21 hours! The satellite
is now below 200 km altitude, in the meteor regime.
While the re-entry itself is visible only in a small, yet unknown, part
of the world, the orbit of the satellite while in the meteor regime is
visible over a much wider area in the next four days, making it an
interesting target for amateur observers as well as professionals.
Interestingly enough, the satellite is flashing
every 20 seconds and is nearly invisible in between the flashes.
Hence, luminosity from interaction with the air can be easily differentiated
from reflected sunlight in telescopes and binoculars. Any record should
contain accurate timing, brightness estimates, description of instrument
used, and position among the stars. Spectroscopy should be attempted.
Futher information can be found via:
http://www.wingardot demon.codot uk/starshine/
http://www.azinet.com/starshine/
Find the path of the satellite on the sky via:
http://www.heavens-above.com/
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Jenniskens
Chair
IAU C-22, Pro-Amat Working Group
..........................................................................
Peter Jenniskens
The SETI Institute e-mail: peter@max.arc.nasadot gov
NASA Ames Research Center tel: (650) 604-3086
Mail Stop 239-4 fax: (650) 604-1088
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
http://leonids.arc.nasadot gov/pjenniskens.html
Leonid MAC http://leonid.arc.nasadot gov
Send attachments to: pjenniskens@mail.arc.nasadot gov
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