Posted by: ironraven
odd sighting - 09/03/07 04:32 AM
I was outside tonight, and saw something I'd never seen before. It was certainly a satellite- right speed, right track- but its magnitude oscillated from nothing to fairly bright (about on par with Altair) on a 15 second cycle.
Anyone else ever seen this? It was very cool, and I'm sure anyone who didn't watch the sky regularly might mistake it for an *cough* import or tourist. I'm assuming the satellite is spinning and the changing faces have different reflectivity, but I didn't think most satellites continued to spine after the solar panels and other squashed down bits had been pulled out by centripetal force if that was the method they used.
Anyone else ever seen this? It was very cool, and I'm sure anyone who didn't watch the sky regularly might mistake it for an *cough* import or tourist. I'm assuming the satellite is spinning and the changing faces have different reflectivity, but I didn't think most satellites continued to spine after the solar panels and other squashed down bits had been pulled out by centripetal force if that was the method they used.