- Okayama - A group of japanese
astronomers watching the heavens around the clock to spot any sign of huge
asteroids and comets apparently found an undisclosed spy satellite, they
announced Thursday.
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- The unidentified object was spotted at the Japan
Spaceguard
Association's observation center in Bisei, Okayama prefecture, in december
last year.
-
- Officials of the association said they have since studied
a list of over 8,000 man-made objects in space compiled by the north
american
aerospace defense command (norad), but it was not registered despite its
massive size -- the satellite has a diameter of 50 meters.
-
- Aerospace engineering specialist Nobuo Nakatomi said
the object was likely to be a spy satellite.
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- "It is a common practice around the world to
secretly
launch satellites for technical or military reasons, and they won't make
entry on the norad list," Nakatomi said. "judging from the
information
available, it looks like the object is a U.S. or Chinese spy
satellite."
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- Shuzo Isobe, director of the spaceguard association,
was delighted with the ability of its 1-meter-diameter optical telescope
at the Bisei Spaceguard Center.
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- "We will keep watching space to spot asteroids or
man-made objects that can be a threat to earth," said Isobe, who
is also an assistant professor at the national astronomical observatory
of japan.
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- Spaceguard association officials said the unidentified
satellite could be observed with binoculars in the southeastern sky.
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