Another clear night: nice pass of Lacrosse 2

Thursday, August 18, 2005, 02:05:36 LT

A second clear night, with somewhat better sky conditions
than yesterday. Targets were the American Radar
reconnaissance satellite Lacrosse 2, and the Japanese
optical satellite IGS-1A that was also targeted yesterday.
Tried to capture USA 129 as well and indeed have a very
faint trail on the image, but too indistinct to measure
reliably. The limiting magnitude for satellites clearly is
near +3.0 for this camera setup.

Obtained two points for Lacrossse 2 and only one point for
2003-009A (IGS 1A), the start of the trail, as the end seems
to fade away and is very indistinct on the image.

By contrast, the trail for Lacrosse 2 is fat and bright. Saw
the sat make his pass visually, magnitude steady near +2.5 through
Pegasus just before entering the earth's shadow.