Re: SL-16 (26076)

J. Thomas Jeffrey wrote:
 
> Has anyone seen SL-16 (listed as debris)? Catalog number 26076.

I've seen it.  It's a chunk of the Zenit-2 upper stage which launched 
Kosmos 2369; this piece of space junk is also identified as 2000-006-F

> Heavens-Above has the magnitude listed as 4.4 but I have never been
> able to see it using my 7x50 binoculars or with the naked eye. I have
> looked for it several times using the Heavens-Above star charts to get
> an accurate location to look.

Satellite debris can have highly irregular shapes and sizes.  You
may just have had the bad luck to look for it when it was at an
angle that didn't catch the sun properly for your position.  I don't
know how H-A calculates magnitudes, but sometimes their forecasts
are off by a magnitude or more.

--Bill Thompson