Wednesday 11 April 2007

USA 129: 0.6s early and bright

USA 129 (96-072A) flared again to mag. -1 at about 19:56:50 UTC in the bum of Leo. It was some 0.6s early, so it looks like no manoeuvre yet. On the 9th perigee of the satellite coincided with equator crossing, which is usually the moment KH's manoeuvre.

Below image started some 10 seconds after the flare peak and shows USA 129 still bright, fading from +1 to +2, between Leo's bum and the coma cluster.

(click image to enlarge)

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