[meteorite-list] re: bright flash

From: Marco Langbroek <marco.langbroek_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:02 2004
Message-ID: <001901c2775b$39f9d9c0$cce081d4_at_latitude>

Hi Kim, Tracy,

Indeed, similar to Tracy I find Kim's description most suggestive of an
Iridium satellite flare. For those who do not know, this is a series of
artificial communication satellites, initiated some years ago (I believe we
started to first see them in 1997), in order to provide for (expensive)
satellite telephone from anywhere in the world. The network entailed as much
as 70 satellites, most of which have indeed been launched. The project
failed as the company in question got bankrupt, but the satellites are still
there although they should be phased out and re-enter as was the plan some
time ago when the company was dismantled and the network closed. They carry
a large antenna panel which reflects beams of sunlight. This creates short
flashes, sometimes just one, sometimes a series within a few seconds. These
can be very bright; I've seen Iridium flares of magnitude -8, matching the
waxing moon in brightness. We regularly observe them during our meteor
observations, if you are watching all night almost inevitably you'll see one
(although not all flashes are necessarily that bright) and they are at the
same time both a nuisance (as they appear just like bright meteor fireballs
when they appear in the corner of your eye), but sometimes also fun. Quite a
special phenomena. There is a website where you, for your geographic
location, can check on possible Iridium flares visible from your location;
so you can check if the flash you saw at a certain time was an iridium, or
when another one will be visible for a given night. I don't have the URL
ready here, but with a google search or whatever (wouldn't surprise me if
sites like S&T link to the site) on "Iridium flares" you might be able to
find it and check.

- Marco
Dutch Meteor Society

> Message: 13
> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 14:33:16 -1000 (HST)
> From: Tracy Latimer <tracyl_at_lib.state.hi.us>
> To: azaware <azaware_at_msn.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] bright flash
>
> Another candidate for bright flashes of unknown origin is iridium
> flares. They can be as bright or brighter than Venus, and are freaky if
> you don't know what you're looking at. I've been fooled by them a few
> times.
>
> Tracy Latimer
>
> On Thu, 17 Oct 2002, azaware wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever seen this before? You know when you're looking for falling
> stars. Sometime off to the side of where your looking you see something
that
> looked like maybe a star getting really bright, but by the time you look
> there, its gone. I've seen this many times and finely I was looking right
at
> it. It was really cool. It looked like a star that just kept getting
bigger
> and brighter then it was gone. Then second after there was a little one.
> This all happen with in seconds. For a while I thought for sure it was
some
> planets exploding. But a guess it was just a falling star coming straight
> in. If you see this now you know.
>
> Kim Az

---
Marco Langbroek                    e-mail: marco.langbroek_at_wanadoo.nl
Diefsteeg 1
NL-2311 TS Leiden
the Netherlands
http://home.wanadoo.nl/marco.langbroek/
"What seest thou else
  In the dark backward and abysm of time?"
William Shakespeare: The Tempest act I scene 2
---

Received on Sat 19 Oct 2002 06:33:56 AM PDT