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Date: | 16.10.1996 | Time: | 18:05 & 18:19 UT | Exposure: | 1s each |
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Field of View: | 4.6' x 4.0' | Receiver: | 576 x 387 CCD | Filter: | Gunn R |
Instrument: | D=2m, f=5.6m | Observatory: | Pik Terskol, Caucasus | Observer: | N. Karpov, A. Sergeev, K. Jockers, T. Credner, T. Bonev |
The above image shows four of them as dots in the night sky (reflected sunlight). The telescope was not guided, so that background stars already appear as trails due to the earths rotation during the 1sec exposure. But the satellite orbits are not perfectly synchrone to the earths rotation, they are inclined and excentric. Seen from the earth they show a small elliptic movement during one day. Above you can blink two different exposures to show the satellites changing positions in 14 minutes.