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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
 Posted - 02/08/2005 : 10:38:25 [Permalink]
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Its a fuel dump from a launching high-altitude rocket, the cloud dissipates over 30minutes or so in the atmosphere moving roughly parallel to the craft. This phenomenon has a high reflectability/magnatude and allows light from stars to pass through a seemingly blue/white haze.
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/atlas5_launch_041217.html
http://bb.nightskylive.net/asterisk/viewtopic.php?t=291
their forum
posted by skysat
AMC-16 satellite was launched at 12:07 UT. Spacecraft separation was scheduled to occur 1:49 later (13:56 UT). I don't have the times but what followed next was the Contamination and Collision Avoidance Maneuver (CCAM). The first photo is at 14:19 UT. Twenty-three minutes seems like a reasonable time to wait before the fuel dump.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av005/status.html
http://www.ilslaunch.com/launches/cbin/Mission_Overview/atlas/AMC_16_MO.pdf
Separation was due to occur 1:48:42 after launch.
more observations
A quick glance seems to indicate: 1) object moving WSW to ENE, 2) approxmately 20 minutes transpires to cross about 1/3 of the sky (I didn't measure closely), 3) the object either grows in brilliance for some reason, is descending from a higher altitude, or grows in size or proximity to the camera.
According to the timestamps, the object was in view for ~20 minutes.
In that time it crossed significantly less than half the sky. If this was in orbit, it was very high.
The AMC-16 satellite was headed to geosynchonous orbit. This makes sense with the NSL-observation since geosynch is very high and would likely have little parallax between the two Hawaiian islands.
This object was clearly the AMC-16 Centaur outgassing at the end of its burn. I saw the NROL-1 Centaur event over Toronto, there were more than 50 UFO reports after that event. Here are my pictures:
http://public.fotki.com/nexstarman/international_space/centaur-fuel-dump.html
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Of course now that its national the forum is full of those searching for God and Klingons
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"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
| Edited by - BigPapaSmurf on 02/08/2005 10:39:39 |
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