Optical Calibration Sphere
The OCS was a popular object for amateur oververs to track. Here are some of their comments. Most of these comments are from
SeeSat discussion group
Spot one moving South. ... ] Estimate mag at 4 to 5.5. ... ] I saw something, only one item. ... Zenith pass for here Saturday evening.
There was some thin cloud interference, but several of them are very small and faint anyway -- don't expect to see those without telescope.
I also only saw one object, and on this zenith pass it seemed to me to be as bright as about +2.5 as it descended towards the south. Best guess is that
it must be the one called OCS, the 3.5 meter shiny balloon. Ed Cannon -
I believe I was able to observe the JawSat payload this evening low in the east. I would like to think it was the Optical Calibration Sphere (OCS)
26063/00004C but I only saw one object. Shortly after starting my search at 23:09 UTC my timing radio reference on WWV stopped working so I was not able
to match times to star references. I was using 7x50's and I was not able to see it naked eye although it was 80-90% illuminated. Perhaps it was mag +6 as
the sky was not totally dark. The slow moving, steady illuminated object did pass just below kappa Orion as predicted. Finally dug out from the recent 18"
snow northeaster here in Md!
Jeff Hunt 38.51N/76.76W
I observed two objects on a W 29 deg. pass at 05:30 UT this morning Jan.28 The first object was steady +4, at 5:30:39.9 near a 6.3 star (11:11, +14.5),
but I didn't move my binoculars, not knowing exactly the predicted sequence. Only four seconds later I saw a -1 flash, but waited at the same position for
two minutes for more objects - none seen.
Though the elsets did seem stable, except OCS (Using OIG latest five at 06:30 UT), two hours later only the Minotaur remains stable enough,
and OCS is very little changed! Only the Minotaur fits my observation. The smallest separation, 8 s, is now OPAL/OCS, but the order does not fit my obs.
(9 s OCS/FalconSat)
OCS appears to be running about 20 secs late on the most recent elset:
OCS
1 26063U 00004C 00028.84649291 .00005409 00000-0 19339-2 0 79
2 26063 100.2281 225.7398 0037271 185.6923 174.3892 14.34193647 245
And 45 sec late from an elset of earlier today:
OCS 805 x 748
1 26063U 00004C 00028.21875732 .00526668 00000-0 17649+0 0 53
2 26063 100.2308 224.9989 0039402 189.9400 170.3631 14.34481333 156
I observed it this evening as it passed about 1.5 deg left of Saturn at 00:20:16 UTC 29 January. It was visible at 1x (~+3.5 mag) as it passed N->S
nearly directly overhead.
Cheers Don Gardner 39.1796 N, 76.8419 W, 34m ASL
Some high thin clouds/haze prevented any obs of the Minotaur R/B #26066 00004F however i was able to see with my 10x50s what i believe was OCS #26063 00004C.
Mag was approx 4. The haze prevented me from seeing anything else around it however i noticed a couple of very faint flashes leading it by approx 3 deg.
Then there was a brighter flash, approx mag 3.5, at 01:56:52 29 Jan UTC +/- 3 sec. Az 130 deg El 30 deg. According to my info, that object should be Jawsat
#26065 00004E.
Jari 54.25N 110.11W 556m<
I can't explain my statement about the Minotaur. I doesn't fit. With Mike's smoothed elsets, the flash fits FalconSat within 1 s. I'd like to believe the
object 4 s ahead was OCS because of its steady brightness, but according to the elset it was about 16 s ahead. (Just 9 s with the elsets I had yesterday)
OCS was 31 seconds late this evening using the elset shown below. It passed between Rigel and beta-Eri at 23:47:42 UTC. For much of the pass (N->S
in the east 47 deg max elevation) it was visible at 1x ~3.5 mag.
Later this evening it was still 31 seconds late - passing about 2 deg above beta-Peg (290az, 20 el) at 01:25:30 UTC 30 January.
Its brightness was about a +5.0 - visible with 7x50s through a fairly thick haze.
OCS 4.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 d
1 26063U 00004C 00029.54413656 -.00010269 00000-0 -36193-2 0 92
2 26063 100.2299 226.5624 0038043 182.9562 177.1382 14.34183012 343
Cheers Don Gardner 39.1796 N, 76.8419 W, 34m ASL
Despite some high haze around, OCS #26063 00004C was still visible at 1X at a mag of 3.5. Looking with my 10x50s no other objects were seen near it due
to the haze. OCS passed approx 2 deg below (SW) Saturn at 03:04:09 UTC 30 Jan +/- 3 sec.
Jari 54.25N 110.11W 556m
Russell Eberst has posted the following observations:
The bright object, which is presumed to be OCS, matches my elset for the B object very well.
The observation shown as E above matches my elset for A very well. I would assume that this is JAWSAT since it is supposed to be the largest of the other
objects.
And of course the F object is the rocket.
Mike McCants
Tonight at site 5918 I had a good JawSat evening pass 60 deg. E, good weather (second time for Jawsat) and brought my binoculars into town. Again,
I didn't see the Minotaur. A steady object, probably OCS, passed 5h 59.5m +37d 16' at 18:05:59.1 UT, 43 seconds later than Mike's elset. I didn't
see any other object within +-3 min. I was using 7*50 all the time, so the chance of seeing a flash was minimal.
I was using Mikes high-drag elset. Switching to the low-drag decreased the time error by only 5 seconds, and the most recent elset from OIG was within
0.4 s from Mike's. From the new OIG elsets it was OPAL I saw - position is within 0.01 d. and time within 0.2 s.
As Mike McCants posted, the observations of OCS match the 2000-004C elset better that the 2000-004B elset. OCS passes about 1.5 deg to the right of
alpha-Cet at 00:20:47. The pass was N->S and passes almost directly overhead. It was visible at 1x for most of the pass at about a +2.5/+3.0 mag.
OCS 4.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 d
1 26063U 00004C 00031.21848337 +.00000196 +00000-0 +90193-4 0 00286
2 26063 100.2286 228.5416 0037685 177.9092 182.2250 14.34182235000597
OPAL 0.5 0.0 0.0 8.0 d
1 26062U 00004B 00031.21896619 +.00016405 +00000-0 +58252-2 0 00357
2 26062 100.2292 228.5407 0038205 178.0293 182.1043 14.34075193000590
Cheers Don Gardner 39.1796 N, 76.8419 W, 34m ASL
According to the OCS program manager at L'Garde (I spoke to him today) the sphere was designed to inflate within a minute of ejection from the JAWSAT/Minotaur
dn't know yet if it had been successful, but if you see a bright object my guess is that it's the inflated OCS.
- Jonathan McDowell
Just observed two of the objects from last night's launch. The brighter of the two was about mag +5 to +5.5, visible 1x in very nice Mojave Desert skies.
The dimmer object, which led the brighter one by 4.8 seconds, was about mag +8 to +8.5. Assuming the OCS has inflated, and using the time separation of the two,
it seems that I must have observed these.
First up was the Minotaur R/B #26066 00004F, no accurate timing was made as i had to use my 10x50s to see it but it was close to the predicted time of
02:28:21 28 Jan UTC. Az 105 deg El 62 deg. Mag varied from approx 5 to 5.5. Nothing was seen around it so i am pretty sure it was the R/B. I then diverted my
scan as the others were to follow shortly according to my predictions. I soon picked up a bright, approx mag 3.5 object along the same track. As i followed
it there was another object in front of it, much fainter at approx mag 5. It was leading the other object by approx 2.7 deg (my 10x50s have a FOV of 5.5).
I tracked both objects but could not see anything else with them. I then looked to see if i could see the bright object at 1x and at that exact moment,
there was a sharp mag 2 flash. The time was 02:29:24 UTC +/- 3 sec. Az 120 deg El 60 deg. Now which one made the flash i do not know. If the bright object
was OCS #26063 00004C then the leading object was Opal #26062 00004B. At least that's my estimate of the ID's.
I observed a pass of several JAWSAT launch pieces last night at 2:34UT Jan 28th. One object remained steady at about mag 4, which I (as others) assume is the OCS balloon.
One object leading OCS by 2-to-3 seconds of time became faintly visible in 7x50 binos at about mag. 7 but disappeared and reappeared at irregular intervals. Depending on which elset is used on SKYMAP plots (see below), the faint leading sat could have been ASUSat-1 (old set) or OPAL (new set).
I also spotted another sat TRAILING OCS by about 3 seconds. It was mostly invisible but would appear very faint (again at infrequent and random intervals) EXCEPT it flashed two times to near +1 or ZERO mag and was definitely RED-ORANGE in color. The "old" elset points to JAWSAT while the "new" elset points to ASUSat-1. Again this assumes the steady object was OCS.
Others on this service my have a better idea of what these satellites could really be. I'll be watching tonight for sure!
RICK BALDRIDGE Campbell, CA
Noticing the latest elsets including a new object, JAWSat deb G? #26079 00004G i looked for it this evening. I spotted a rapidly flashing object at times reaching 1x visibility but easily seen with my 10x50s. I thought it was a CF-18 at first due to the flashing as a few were flying around but it didn't have red strobes. I followed the object along and it was on the predicted track and at 01:58:25 10 Feb UTC +/- 3 sec it passed 5 deg above Procyon. The only other object that was near it was ASUSat #26065 00004E but i have not heard of any reports of ASUSat flashing like the object i observed. I was unable to time the flashes as they were too quick.
Jari
At 7:50 PM EST tonight I just observed the same thing: only one object approx mag 4. The pass culminated about 40 degrees in the NW and I was using 10X50 binoculars, though I could even see it naked eye. I panned ahead and behind for other objects and could see none. At one point I thought I saw a faint object trailing, but never saw it again. Anyone know what the one bright object we're seeing must be? I doubt the OCS is already inflated. Perhaps it is the Minotaur R/B.
Quinn McCleery Raleigh, NC, USA
I have heard so much about the JAWSAT mission recently. From Heavens-Above, I have managed to see the Optical Calibration Sphere. But H. Above posts no Jawsat views for my location. Are the different objects (OCS, JAWSAT, Minotaur r/b) in different orbits? Or are the others fainter than the OCS? -Ben 40.5770N, 73.9480W
A few minutes later OSC #26062 00004B was observed at 1x, mag 3 and at 02:30:36 UTC +/- 3 sec it passed just above (W) Bellatrix in Orion. I looked with my 10x50s to see what was close to OCS and spotted a faint object, mag 5.5 est trailing behind and it passed a little higher (more West) above Bellatrix at 02:31:05 UTC +/- 3 sec. According to the latest info, that object was ASUSAT #26065 00004E.
The Minotaur rocket should be easy, though I have missed it three times (!) But all other objects are faint, except Í have seen a bright flash from one of them. They are in very similar orbits, as can be seen from the prediction below.
I notice Pierre N has been producing elements for OCS Does this mean that the OIG is not giving them? Or perhaps Pierre wants to show that the non-professional analysts can with support maintain elsets of such an object? It is my personal opinion that tracking such "balloon" satellites is a better education project in the long term than Starshine Tony Beresford
Hello,
I just saw my second lunar transit of a satellite at my observing place Ryckevelde.
The Optical Calibration Sphere(2000-04B) was predicted with Satspy to have a very close pass to the Moon. In fact when I continued to follow it, the satellite did have a lunar transit !
I could not see it at the illuminated side of the Moon but became visible when it was above the unlit side of the Moon. It went out of transit at 21h14m53s UTC(April 9). A very short but intense experience !
This was only the second time I saw a Lunar transit. The previous one was a Progress spaceship going to Mir some years ago, but this was at full Moon.
I also have the impression that the OCS sphere isn't very steady. Some variations are visible on this satellite. Maybe there is still something attached to it.
Greetings,
Tristan Cools Belgian Working Group Satellites(BWGS)
When observing 00- 4 B the last couple of days I've also noticed some small variations in its brightness. Last night it was notible fainter than otherwise, mag 5 versus mag 4.
If I remember well the cannister that held OCS is still attached to it.
Greetings Leo Barhorst
