Saw my first "Iridium flare"

[RUF]

After seeing the Heavens-above site mentioned in one of the UT forums, I went to the site and was intrigued by the section on Iridium flares.

Apparently, these are Iridium satellites flying overhead, and when the sun hits the highly pollished, flat metal surfaces on the satellite, they shine really bright.

The sight tells you right where to look, and when. It was right where Heavens-above predicited to be, and man was it bright! (mag -4!!)

I never knew there was such a thing!
I encourage all to take a look if you haven't already.

www.Heavens-above.com

happy hunting!
RUF

[astromark]

Shame on you. . . These have been around for more than a decade, and you've only just noticed. Do you live underground?
If you have an interest in astronomy. Go outside at night and look up. There are wonderous things to see, and questions aplenty.

[piersdad]

some times they can be seen in the daylight.
and as a very brigh one was due overhead about 6 pm i was at the time with several children at a party and declared to those present that if they look up where i pointed ill make a light shine at them

precisely on time the flare shone exactly where i pointed and perhaps astronomy was seeded in the minds of some of those children present

i did tell them it was a satelight though and not magic

[aeolus]

ahh Iridium flares. So cool. So tremendously bright and cool. I'm posting only to support what has been said to any outsiders reading this right now. This isn't just a bunch of nerds getting excited about nothing. Iridium flares are definately worthwhile; they are not "nothing". About us being "nerds", though....

[RUF]

I did the same thing as you Piersdad!!
The whole family was heading to their cars after a play my nephew was in when I got them to all look up.
It's pretty cool to point at an exact location in the sky, at a precise moment and say: "It should happen right about...now!"
It was Mag -6 if I recall correctly. Some thought it was just a plane, but they were at a loss when it faded away to nothing.

[robbonz]

One thing you might want to look for if you are in a location where flares are reasonably common is a "double flare" where you can see two within a minute or so of each other. I have only seen one of these so far, but it was an impressive sight. Keep checking "Heavens Above" till you find them but you may have to wait a while- in my case (in New Zealand here) seems to be about every six months or so.

The best place to be (if you can get there!) is apparently the South Pole. Lots of flares including multiple ones. There is at least one observer in Antarctica, if you look back over the recent posts in http://www.satobs.org/seesat you will find the information on this, and while you are at it you may find it useful to join the list as observers post useful information on that topic and many others related to satellite observing.

[Dave Mitsky]

Here's an Iridium satellite flare from Cherry Springs State Park that I captured with a Canon Digital Rebel and the stock Canon 15-55mm lens.

Dave Mitsky

[Big Brother Dunk]

Welcome to the club RUF. The flares are an interesting night sky feature that you can show off to the uninitiated.

[Dave Mitsky]

For more photos and information on Iridium flares, see the UT thread in the Astrophotography forum and these web sites - http://satobs.org/iridium.html and http://satobs.org/iridpix.html and http://skylovers.org/flares.html

Dave Mitsky

[RUF]

I think I have seen a double flare. The first time I went out to look, I saw two flares in the same area, moving in about the same direction. I thought the first one was the scheduled flare, but then the second one flared up within a minute.

There was only one listed on the Heavens-above site, but they do explain that if you see an "unscheduled flare" it is probably an old satellite that is still up there.

It was quite impressive. I have been "looking up" for a long time now, and never knew these existed till I found the H-A web-site.