2021-09-03, 05:03 PM
Hi BMD,
For future reference, which parts of your sky are best/worst for finding these buggers? Mine is best toward the SW & worst toward the NE where I get the Columbus light dome.
The data seems to change so fast that it's really hard to keep up to date. Even the HORIZONS elements aren't going to be reliable with a short arc of observations near discovery.
I wish ST4 would keep several sets of elements over a few day interval instead of just keeping the most recent one. It can retain multiple sets of elements, but apparently not if they're too close together in time. It seems like a triplet set of elements ~6 hours apart could be used to calculate 3 separate positions, then apply some weighting to those results to estimate a better position as the close approach unfolds.
ST4 makes accurate position predictions, but they're only as good as the quality of the osculating elements. When the osculating elements are changing rapidly during the close approach - all bets are off. It's not possible to keep updating the osculating elements during the course of the close approach. It could work if the calculations were only done for the one MP in question.
Perhaps something for a future update. It is a rather niche interest though.
Good luck tonight,
Phil S.
For future reference, which parts of your sky are best/worst for finding these buggers? Mine is best toward the SW & worst toward the NE where I get the Columbus light dome.
The data seems to change so fast that it's really hard to keep up to date. Even the HORIZONS elements aren't going to be reliable with a short arc of observations near discovery.
I wish ST4 would keep several sets of elements over a few day interval instead of just keeping the most recent one. It can retain multiple sets of elements, but apparently not if they're too close together in time. It seems like a triplet set of elements ~6 hours apart could be used to calculate 3 separate positions, then apply some weighting to those results to estimate a better position as the close approach unfolds.
ST4 makes accurate position predictions, but they're only as good as the quality of the osculating elements. When the osculating elements are changing rapidly during the close approach - all bets are off. It's not possible to keep updating the osculating elements during the course of the close approach. It could work if the calculations were only done for the one MP in question.
Perhaps something for a future update. It is a rather niche interest though.
Good luck tonight,
Phil S.