Hunting iridium flares

[crovax]

Hi, I guess I've just discovered a perfect use for my new bicycle. With it's help I'll be able to get to the center of all iridium flares on weekends.

However I have some questions regarding heavens-above.com

For example I want to see this flare

Iridium Flare Details

How do I view it from my location? Do I need to figure out where north is, direct my head to the approximate location of that line at the approximate angle of altitude relatively to horizon? Will that be enough? So in the case of the above example I need to stand with the right side of me pointed to north and looking at the angle of 14°?

Then let's say I take my bike and travel to the location of flare center. It is:

Flare centre is at: 50.362°N, 29.955°E (right?)

The most confusing thing is flare magnitude. Why does this site say that it is -6 at my location and 5 in the center? Isn't it supposed to be brighter in the center?

So let's say I've traveled to the exact location. Do I need to look exactly over my head then (altitude -87°)?

[crovax]

Uhh...another quick question. It actually says altitude=-87° in flare center. How can that value be negative?

[The Warthog]

To your last question, no. The satellite is so far away that the 10km or so that you may bicycle is not enough to appreciably change the angle (elevation) of the flare.

I usually don't leave my home to see an Iridium Flare, although if I am travelling I may sometimes print out predictions for the time and place I am travelling to. Even a mag 0 flare is easy to spot. I have seen -5 and brighter flares through very thin cloud.

I would suggest the high negative numbers in theDetail pages are the result of a programming error. They only occur when the flare is very close to the horizon. Wehn the flares are higher, they don't differ by more than 1º, and they should differ by even less when close to the horizon because of their greater distance away. In fact, the time at flare centre is almost an hour after the time at your location, making me think it is a result for two different flares. This would also explain the discrepancy in the flare magnitude. Make that 4.4km trip, and look in the same part of the sky as you would from home.

Yes, you need to know what direction you are looking in, and ROUGHLY how high. As long as the view of the location of the flare is unobstructed, they are easy to see. You may miss one if you look down at your watch at the time of the flare, or if you are looking in the wrong direction. Sometimes the flare just doesn't happen, and there is little explanaation for why. I have seen over 60 different Iridium satellites flaring, all of them given to me by Heavens-Above.

Good look in the hunt!

[crovax]

But the site says that flares are very sensitive to location and it should be entered with not more than 1km mistake. Also site says that I can travel that 4-10km to increase the viewing.

All this is very confusing and I think I'll post these questions to the developer. I'll write back in this thread when I get update from him.

PS. Yeah, the question about an hour difference was the naxt thing I was going to ask