| FITSAT-1 Haiku No luck – clouded out A full report will follow But first sleep, and dreams |
This morning was the first attempt of the FITSAT-1 team to beam Morse code to Earth using the LEDs on the skin of their cubesat.
I arrived at Battery Park at 2345 EST 11Dec2012 and found a mackerel sky. The clouds appeared to be moving toward me out of the SW with clear sky behind them but the clear sky never arrived, likely an effect of foreshortening making the clear sky appear closer than it was. Eventually the mackerel sky broke up only to be replaced by a deck of stratus. I saw one light which would not resolve to a sharp focus but was obviously planetary – Jupiter.
At 2445 EST the clouds parted and I could see Orion. At times I could see Cursa, β Eri, mag 2.78, Saiph, κ Ori, Mag 2.07, and Nail al Saif, ι Ori, Mag 2.77, but these stars all came and went as the density of the clouds varied.
At about 0113:15 EST the clouds closed in again and the only star I could see was Rigel,, β Ori, Mag 0.28, which remained at least barely visible through the clouds until I stopped observing at 0118 EST, often surrounded by a ring of Glowing clouds.
Since I did not know where exactly the satellite was but knew it would be passing just above Rigel, and since Rigel was the only star in that neighborhood that was more or less constantly visible I concentrated my search on that area but did not see anything moving. It is likely that the satellite, at Mag 8, was too dim to burn through the clouds.
Takushi says the satellite should remain in orbit until sometime this summer so they will keep trying as propitious passes occur. I will keep trying as well.
