karn@petrus.UUCP (12/12/84)
The set of elements I distributed this afternoon for the German AMPTE satellite which will release barium on Christmas morning give the following position of the satellite at the planned time of the release (12:18 UTC, 25 Dec 1984): 9.308 S latitude, 83.559 W longitude, 110100.760 km altitude. This is just west of Peru, and will be above the horizon for just about all of the United States. However, the sun will be just rising in the eastern US (elevation -1.2 degrees at my home near New York City) and this will make viewing unlikely this far east. People who obtain photographs or accurate observations of the artificial comet should send copies to: John T. Lynch AMPTE Project Scientist Code EES NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 To be maximally useful, observations and photographs should include your precise location, precise pointing information (or should show a star background), exact times, and details of photographic equipment (film type, exposure settings, description of lenses and filters used, etc). The initial emissions of the barium after release will be a 5553 Angstroms, and after ionization by sunlight will change to 4454 and 4934 Angstroms. NASA has an information recording available at 301-344-0470. This information was received via the AMSAT (amateur satellite) weekly net on 75 meters. Phil Karn, KA9Q