I don't think it would ever to get 4th magnitude, unless it flares like the Iridium's do.

I've observed Vanguard 1 several times over the last couple years, and I'd estimate it to be between 10th and 12th magnitudes.

Plan ahead though; it travels through my 1-degree field of view pretty fast!

My plan of attack? I get elements on the day I'm observing. Find a good high pass and then look to see when it passes through some easily identifiable fields of view. I synch my laptop clock with the atomic time. Move my telescope to the selected field of view 5 to 10 minutes early, and wait.

My last observation was back in October at the Heart of America Star Party.

-Scott Kranz


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-----Original Message-----
From: "jarisuomela" <jarisu2@...>
Sender: guide-user@yahoogroups.com
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:23:31
To: <guide-user@yahoogroups.com>
Reply-To: guide-user@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [guide-user] Satellite magnitudes

Hi Bill,

I see that Guide reports the brightness of Vanguard 1 as up to 4th magnitude. For such a small object I think that to be higly unrealistic. Either that or then I really should bump up my priority of observing the oldest still-orbiting man-made object.

Kind regards,
Jari






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