I've seen an Iridium flare!

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toberodiWed 11/04/07 22:59

 

A short while ago I wandered outside to watch a patch of the night sky. Right on time (to the second) I saw a dazzling point of light flash up and then disappear after a few moments. This is all the more impressive given that I was able to see this flare through cloud cover - there are no stars to be seen where I am tonight.

An Iridium flare is caused by the solar panels of one of the network of 66 Iridium communications satellites. The panels act as mirrors, and at certain points in the satellite's orbit they reflect sunlight towards the ground, creating a bright spot a few tens of kilometres across. From within this realtively small circle you can see the satellie flare up as it passes overhead. There are so many of these flares that you can almost guarantee seeing one every clear night, as long as you know where (and when) to look.

Have you ever seen one of these? If you haven't, there's a website where you can enter your location and it'll tell you the time, brightness, and location in the sky of the next Iridium flare. Give it a go!

http://www.heavens-above.com/

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