[FPSPACE] Lacrosse 5 and Envisat

[John Locker]

Typical , as STS 118 comes to an end the skies here over the UK open up !

So ...tonights targets were Envisat ,2111 GMT

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/envisat.jpg

which showed  a nice gold satellite body with single blue array...


and Lacrosse 5 making a 52 deg pass from the west.

Predicted  3rd magnitude , at 21;26;39 GMT it flared for about 5 seconds to 
mag 1 or brighter

The animation at 
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/212639flare.gif spans 
four seconds
as the satellite flared and in the final frame we see the now familiar 
double array

There was no disappearance , however , I was unable to see the bird much 
below 35 degs in the eastern sky.

John


Any images attached are subject to copyright restriction
but may be used with prior permission