While I was at the ASH Naylor Observatory last night, I saw three "arties" worth mentioning. The first was an excellent ISS pass that began in the west southwest at 00:06 UT. When I first spotted the 100 billion dollar white elephant it was to the west of Zuben el Genubi. The ISS, as it seems is often the case, was much brighter than the predicted magnitude of -0.2. It was clearly brighter than -1.0 when compared to Mars and Vega. The ISS reached an altitude of 61 degrees at 00:09 UT and disappeared in the northeast at 00:12 UT.
Shortly thereafter (00:13 UT) lucky Iridium 13 (37 degrees altitude, 6 degrees north, -2 magnitude) blossomed in the north in the vicinity of Polaris. This particular Iridium flare didn't seem to be quite as bright as predicted.
A couple of hours later (at approximately 2:05 UT) while I was hunting down Neptune with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain I noticed a dim satellite traveling eastward through Capricornus at a rather leisurely rate. Within a few seconds it grew dramatically brighter. I had stumbled across a slow moving satellite that was tumbling with a period of about 5 seconds. I quickly replaced the 25mm University Optics MK-70 (259x) with a 40mm MK-70 (162x) and tracked the satellite for about 5 minutes, giving everyone who was interested a chance to see it. This mystery satellite was the best tumbler that I've ever seen through a telescope.
Dave Mitsky
Shortly thereafter (00:13 UT) lucky Iridium 13 (37 degrees altitude, 6 degrees north, -2 magnitude) blossomed in the north in the vicinity of Polaris. This particular Iridium flare didn't seem to be quite as bright as predicted.
A couple of hours later (at approximately 2:05 UT) while I was hunting down Neptune with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain I noticed a dim satellite traveling eastward through Capricornus at a rather leisurely rate. Within a few seconds it grew dramatically brighter. I had stumbled across a slow moving satellite that was tumbling with a period of about 5 seconds. I quickly replaced the 25mm University Optics MK-70 (259x) with a 40mm MK-70 (162x) and tracked the satellite for about 5 minutes, giving everyone who was interested a chance to see it. This mystery satellite was the best tumbler that I've ever seen through a telescope.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
