The STSS-ATRR rocket

Wisps of thin clouds filled the sky this evening. These killed any chances of seeing the Shuttle STS-127 and its tank 20 minutes after launch, which would enter eclipse at < 10 degrees above the western horizon.

Later that night, around 00:46 local time, I observed the STSS-ATRR rocket (09-023B), now very near decay. Moving from Cassiopeia through Cepheus, Cygnus and into Ophiuchus, it gradually brightened to mag. +2. It was 1.7s late and about 0.09 degree off-track relative to Ted's 09196.16581104 orbit: so close to decay, the orbit is changing very fast.

The wisps of clouds produced a somewhat eerie picture, shown below, with the rocket moving through Cygnus (bright star near the left trail end is Deneb).

(click image to enlarge)

Keyhole USA 161

Yesterday evening started cloudy, with rain showers. As a result, I missed the splendid NLC display as seen from Belgium and the southern and eastern Netherlands.

After midnight it cleared, and this allowed me to capture the Keyhole satellite USA 161 (01-044A) again. It was nicely on time. A bright mag. 0 stray, which turned out to be the Russian r/b 84-072B, made a similar trajectory 3 minutes earlier.

Below image shows the Keyhole (01-044A) crossing the Milky Way in central Cygnus (I pushed the levels and contrasts of this image a bit in Photoshop to bring out the Milky Way better).

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ISS and Progress chasing each other

This evening I finally was able to see the ISS and the recently decoupled Progress M-02 M (09-024A) cargoship chasing each other over the sky. The couple was some 20 degrees apart, with the Progress leading. A very neat sight.

The Progress was around +2.5 to +3, ISS attained about -3.5 and was distinctly orange. The photo below shows the couple while still low in the sky, ascending in the west.

I also observed USA 161 (01-044A) passing east some 10 minutes later.

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(UPDATED) Where are the observers? A map

Mid-June twilight starts very late, and generally I have not been observing the past 3 weeks due to that, as most interesting objects make passes well after midnight currently (and I need my sleep).

While exploring and practising with some simple GIS/mapping software I might start to use for my work, I made the map below. It shows you where the 20 most active observers regularly contributing position observations to satobs.org are located (the map was created with MicroDEM).

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I also plotted my own two station positions on a combination of SRTM elevation data and a Landsat image. Cospar 4353 is my regular station and is in the centre of Leiden as you can see. My outpost station Cospar 4354 is in the polders to the east of Leiden, just south of the Rhine. (I exaggerated the relief by a factor 5 to better show the coastal dunes)

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Clear nights, and the NOSS 3-4 rocket brightness behaviour

A series of clear nights the past week, allowing a series of observations of the STSS-ATRR rocket (09-023B) and two Keyholes, USA 186 (05-042A) and USA 161 (01-044A). 09-023B keeps being an interesting target, as its orbital evolution is that quick that it necessitates continuous coverage. The current orbit projects decay around mid-August.

About a week ago, on May 19-20th (see here), I obtained images on the NOSS 3-4 r (07-027B). This spent Centaur rocket of the NOSS 3-4 launch shows a slow brightness cycle. I obtained some partial brightness profiles from the trail photographs, including an interesting one covering one of the brightness peaks:

(click diagram to enlarge)

It can be clearly sees that this (10.05 s) part of the cycle consists of two components, a slow modestly exponential brightness development with a short narrow peak superimposed on it.

Flare evening

Yesterday evening 19-20 May was an evening of unpredicted flares.

It started with the International Space Station (ISS) in deep twilight. After a splendid zenith pass, while at 40 degrees altitude descending to the East, it shortly brightened to a dazzling mag. -8.

Somewhat later, still in twilight, it was the Keyhole USA 129 (96-072A) flaring to mag. 0. I caught one of the flares on photograph, just south-east of Regulus against a bright blue twilight background. Below the image ( plus a detail) and the brightness profile:

(click images to enlarge)

Somewhat later in the evening, I was next treated to a spectacular mag. -7 flare of IGS 1B (03-009B) while it was passing through the zenith, alas just after the camera shutter closed. The flare was a bright orange-yellow and lasted maybe a second (approximate time, not too accurate: 21:25:00 UTC).

Apart from these flaring objects, observations were also obtained of the NOSS 3-4 rocket (07-027B), showing its regular slow brightness variation; the keyhole USA 186 (05-042A), the SAR satellite Lacrosse 3 (97-064A) and the STSS-ATRR rocket (09-023B).

I also visually observed the STSS-ATRR itself (09-023A), but due to pressing a wrong button of the stopwatch lost my two points on it alas.

In all, a very fruitful night!

STSS-ATRR rocket again

Yesterday evening it cleared, and I observed the STSS-ATRR (09-023A) through the ETX-70, and photographically also its rocket (09-023B). In addition, I captured the KeyHole satellite USA 186 (05-042A).

The pass of the STSS-ATRR rocket (09-023B) provided the nice image below, showing it while crossing Lyra.

(click image to enlarge)

STSS-ATRR and it's rocket, and Progress-M66 (with photographs)

On May 5, the US military launched a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB with the new experimental STSS-ATRR - which stands for Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction satellite. They are also known by the international designation 09-023A, and (for the rocket booster still circling earth) 09-023B.

European observers saw the satellite and the rocket as a thight pair shortly after launch, during their first pass over Europe (see e.g. here and here and here). While the payload was subsequently observed over more passes, the rocket initially got temporarily lost.

Ted Molczan suggested an alternative search orbit (here) and based on that I made an area search with the Meade ETX-70 on the evening of May 8-9, during 20 minutes (between 20:49 and 21:10 UTC) around the nominal pass time from that estimated orbit, covering a 4 degree wide area centered just south of gamma Umi and 11 Umi. During this search I observed an object of around magnitude +6 passing about 2 degrees south of the predicted trajectory, some 4 minutes late.

This indeed turned out to be the rocket. Independant from me, Bram Dorreman also observed it from Belgium that evening on the same pass, bumping into it by chance during his flash observations. With these observations as the basis for an orbital update, it was found and observed by several observers the following nights. Yesterday, in the evening of May 11-12, I photographed it (see below). During a fine zenith pass near 21:50 UTC it appeared as an easy naked-eye object, reaching mag. +2.5 in the zenith.

In below two (out of a total of 3) images it can be seen ascending in the south-southeast in Virgo, and then crossing Bootes in the second image.

(click images to enlarge)

That same night I observed the payload, STSS-ATRR itself, much fainter, with the ETX-70. In addition, I saw Progress-M66 (09-006A), recently released from the ISS, and ISS itself. below is one of the images of Progress-M66, here seen crossing through Leo.

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The Misty 2 decoy, USA 129, IGS 1B and more

Yesterday evening was a very clear evening. A bright moon lit the sky though.

Several objects were imaged. Two Keyhole satellites were captured: USA 129 (96-072A) and USA 161 (01-044A). For the first time this year, the Japanese IGS 1B (03-009B) defunct radar satellite was in range again, always a sure sign spring has arrived. Below are two images, of USA 129 and IGS 1B.

(click images to enlarge)

Among the HEO objects, the SIGINT USA 200 (08-010A) and the USA 144 deb/Misty 2 decoy (99-028C) were captured.

The latter is an interesting object. Launched in May 1999, a bright object from the launch was tracked by amateur observers (see story here). After some time it became clear from the orbital behaviour of the object, that it could not be a real operational payload. Rather, it is a piece of debris or a decoy meant to draw attention away from the real stealth payload. The object is bright, but probably small and very lightweight, and moving in a 2700 x 3100 km orbit. Below is the image I obtained on a pass of this object last evening.

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Keyhole USA 161 flaring

On the night of April 1-2, the Keyhole optical satellite USA 161 (01-044A) flared brightly to mag. -2 just after shadow exit. I shot a whole series of images (yielding 7 positions), of which this is the first (exposure starting a few seconds after flare maximum):

(click image to enlarge)

The same evening I also captured the Keyhole USA 129 (96-072A). HEO objects imaged were the SIGINT USA 200 (08-010A) and two brief glints by NOSS 2-3A (96-029A). The Russian Kosmos 2392 (02-037A) was captured as a stray on the USA 200 images.

Iranian Safir 2 r/b still slowly flaring

Yesterday evening, the atmosphere was very dynamic, with short clear spells repeatedly giving way to fields of clouds.

Nothwithstanding these conditions, I managed to image the Keyhole USA 129 (96-072A) again, plus the Iranian rocket booster Safir 2 r/b (09-004B) that launched OMID in February. I imaged it earlier in the morning of 7 March.

At that time, it showed bright flares in a slow pattern. It is still doing so, as yesterday evening's images show. The time between the bright glints is slightly less than it was early this month. I determined a 31.7 second interval between two of the glints, with glint times at (March 29 UTC):

19:57:19.5 UTC
19:57:51.2 UTC

On March 7, the determined glint interval was 33.25 seconds.

Below are the two images of last evening, plus the brightness curves. The glints appear to be slightly asymetric, with a slightly more shallow fall-off of the brightness after the glint maximum:

(click images to enlarge)

More HEO object observations

Yesterday afternoon I was very tired and fell a sleep on the couch. I woke up to find it clear outside, and the LEO observation window largely gone by already.

So a bit later in the evening I targetted some HEO (High Earth Orbit) objects again with the EF 100/2.8 Macro USM lens: USA 200 (08-010A) in a Molniya orbit, and the rocket booster USA198r (07-060B) in a 4.9 revolutions/day orbit.

The latter was at an altitude of 13 800 km (8625 miles) and a distance of 15 300 km (9560 miles) from me over the Kaspian Sea when I imaged it.

(click images to enlarge)

Nice pass of USA 129

The evening initially started clear. I observed the ISS, the Lacrosse 3 & 4 (97-064A & 00-047A) and the Keyhole USA 129 (96-072A).

Lacrosse 3 was very bright (+1) while descending to the west, showing multiple slow flares. USA 129 was very nice, +2.5 and grazing the tip of the Big Dipper's tail. It resulted in the nice picture below. The bright star grazed halfway by the trail is eta Uma, the tip of the Big dipper tail. Alcor and Mizar are in top. Movement is from righ to legt. The smudge at the left edge of the picture is clouds.

(click image to enlarge)

March 21 Iridium 33 flashes

Like yesterday and 4 days ago, I captured the Iridium 33 wreckage (97-051C) flashing again in a very regular pattern. Like the days before, the flash period was 4.66 seconds:

photo 1:

19:39:02.51
19:39:07.17
19:39:11.85

Photo 2:

19:39:44.46
19:39:49.13

Images with the flashes indicated by arrows below:

(click images to enlarge)

Very bright International Space Station (Updated)

This evening I observed a magnificent pass of the International Space Station (ISS), with the Shuttle docked to it.

At about 40 degrees altitude in the west, during its approach, it shortly became very bright. A conservative estimate by me placed it at at least magnitude -5; Leo Barhorst observing the same pass from Almere, some 30 km North of me, estimated magnitude -6. After that, it slightly fainted, remaining bright but not as bright as it had been in the west.

Update: telescopic images by Quintus Oostendorp on SpaceWeather.com show that the brightening was due to the solar panels reflecting sunlight.

This brief brightening was captured by my camera. The Hyades are visible to the left, the Pleiades to the right.

(click image to enlarge)

More flashing Iridium 33 wreckage, ISS, USA 200 and other high objects

As I wrote in my previous post with the image of USA 129 flaring, yesterday evening I hauled a rich batch of objects.

It started in twilight with a nice pass of the International Space Station (ISS). The image below shows it rising through Orion:

(click image to enlarge)

Next I photographed passes of Lacrosse 3 (97-064A) and the NOSS 3-4 rocket (07-027B).

The wreckage of Iridium 33 (97-051C) was observed flashing again. Two photographs yielded five flashes, and like 3 days ago they fit a flash periodicity of 4.6 to 4.7 seconds. The timings were derived by measuring the flash positions astrometrically, and fitting the obtained positions to the most recent Iridium 33 tle. Here are the two images, with the flashes indicated:

(click images to enlarge)

I also targeted some HEO (High Earth Orbit) objects again, this time experimenting with different camera settings. USA 200 (08-010A) was captured again, this time somewhat better than 3 days ago:

(click image to enlarge)

I combined 4 of the images into an animated GIF, showing the movement of the sky and the satellite over a 1 minute period:



On the same image series I captured a piece of debris, USA 144 debris (99-028C), as a stray. In addition, I imaged another object in a Molniya orbit, USA 179 (04-034A) and the USA 198 rocket (07-060B) this evening.

USA 129 flaring

This evening I bagged a rich bag of objects. Amongst them was the Keyhole satellite USA 129 (96-072A), that treated me on a bright mag. -1 flare at 20;24:25 UTC (March 20) shortly after emerging from eclipse in Perseus. I captured the peak and descending brightness part on the image shown below.

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The light-curve is saturated near it's peak:

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Imaging distant objects: USA 200

Recently, I bought a new lens for my camera: a Canon EF 100/2.8 Macro USM. As this lens has a larger diameter than the EF 50/2.5 Macro I use for my regular satellite imagery, it is able to capture fainter stellar objects. Of course, the Field of View (FOV) is half as small, which makes it less fit for imaging objects in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

It is more suitable though for imaging distant objects in HEO (High Earth Orbit): satellites which are at thousands of kilometers altitude (including, but not restricted to, Geostationary satellites). The brightest of these are around magnitude +8.5.

Yesterday I did some first succesful experiments on one of those objects: USA 200 (08-010A, NROL 28), an NRO ELINT satellite launched on 13 March 2008. It is in a Molniya orbit and as I imaged it, it was at an altitude of 29 564 km above the earth, and a distance to me of about 29 920 km! Hovering (well: not really. It is slowly moving in its orbit) high over Iceland at that moment, it keeps a watchful signals eye over the northern Atlantic and arctic.

I shot a series of 20 second exposures, from stationary tripod. The satellite showed some movement during these exposures. below photograph shows one of the images: the satellite has made a faint short trail perpendicular to the star trails.

(click image to enlarge)

The images below show the orbit of USA 200. The Molniya-type orbit means it orbits about twice a day, spending only little time in its perigee at low altitude over the southern hemisphere, and most of its time in the hight altitude parts of its orbit over the high northern hemisphere, its surveillance area.

(click images to enlarge)

More flashes from the Iridium 33 wreckage

Yesterday evening, after observing the exciting ISS-Shuttle duo pass (see previous post), I tried to observe flashes from the Iridium 33 wreckage (97-051C) again. Simone had provided some experimental predictions and asked for verification.

The Iridium 33 wreckage did flare: two very bright flashes (both around mag. -1) seen naked eye, and two fainter ones (+4?) found on a photograph. They were off from the experimental predictions, but still cool!

The two -1 naked eye flashed were observed at 17 March, 20:06:56 ± 1s and 20:07:02 ± 5sUTC. The two photographic fainter flashes/glints occurred at 20:07:15.7 and 20:07:20.4 UTC. The time between the latter two is 4.7 seconds, and the first two (the naked eye ones) within their timing uncertainties fit a similar 4.7 second period.

The image with the two faint photographic flashes is below:

(click image to enlarge)

Magnificent view of Shuttle and ISS just before docking!

I had a pass of the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119 and the ISS this evening about one hour before they docked. This meant they were moving as a very close pair. The pass was around 19:10 UTC at 25 degrees altitude.

It was a beautiful sight, as the pair rose in the southwest and then majestically sailed past Sirius. Here's a picture:

(click image to enlarge)

The Shuttle is the object slightly fainter and lower in the sky. Movement is from right to left. Here's a second picture:

(click image to enlarge)