Observing Iridium Flares

[Wedge]

After seeing the other topic, and realizing how bright they are, I really want to see one!!

I looked on Heavens above, and there are three tonight, however the information as to where they actually are in the sky isn't very clear...

When it says: Alt: 47° and Alzimuth 166° (SSE),

Does that mean that that it will becoming from SSE and at maximum will be 47 Degrees in altitude?

[Wedge]

Look at how BRIGHT they can get!!

(Best @ 24 seconds)

:shock:

[Talitha]

Does that mean that that it will becoming from SSE and at maximum will be 47 Degrees in altitude?

It means that's where the flare will appear at the prescribed time, relative to your location. The satellite itself isn't worked into the predictions, just the actual flare. Face SSE and look about 1/2 way up from the horizon and you'll see it.. they last for several seconds.

Synchronize your watch with the time on H-A in order to have the best chance of catching it. Go to the bottom of your location page and click on the 'what time is it' link in the Miscellaneous section.

[Wedge]

Thanks!!

Must Try This!!

[phillc]

Thanks for the explanation Talitha, think i saw one last night everything about the object i saw corresponded to where Heavens Above said the iridium flare should be, but not as bright as i was expecting. Going to try again tonight weather permitting. Question in the Heavens Above information, it says for my location Alzimuth 278* ( W ) what does this mean.

phillc :wave:

[trevboyd]

Thanks for the explanation Talitha, think i saw one last night everything about the object i saw corresponded to where Heavens Above said the iridium flare should be, but not as bright as i was expecting. Going to try again tonight weather permitting. Question in the Heavens Above information, it says for my location Alzimuth 278* ( W ) what does this mean.

phillc :wave:

Phil,

The azimuth tells you what direction to face in (compass bearing), so 278* is just very slightly north of due west.

The altitude tells you how high above the horizon to look.

The flares are quite brief (a couple of seconds), so look in the right general direction at the right time and you'll see a bright point appear then fade.

They're pretty spectacular, especially the accuracy of the times given on HA.

Trev

[Talitha]

Just thought I'd mention one more thing (from experience ) .. the flares only last for a few seconds, but there's plenty of time to blink when you're waiting for one.

[Wedge]

Thanks guys, a real help!!

Are the satellites, bright enough to see anyway, so before and after they flare??

[Talitha]

Yes, I've been able to eyeball the actual satellite a number of times after the flare event occurred. The ones I saw were dim, but they were easy enough to follow. I'm not too sure if it'd be do-able through light pollution, though (I live out in the country).

[Wedge]

The Light pollution here isn't too bad - what sort of magnitude is the satellite after the flare??

:?

[Talitha]

I'm really bad at guesstimating magnitudes, but the satellites were definitely dimmer than Polaris which (iirc) is about mag 2... the motion made it pretty easy to follow, though.

[phillc]

Thanks Talitha & Trev for all your help. Now all i need is another clear night.

cheers

phillc :wave: