Orion with an Iridium flare

[Astroman]

Here's one I found "just layin' around".

2 minutes piggybacked (guided) Canon FTb 35mm lens @F/3.5. Kodak 400 ISO print film.

Kind of a small scan, but you get the idea.

[FLO]

Thanks for sharing AM

I reeeally want to see one of those 8)

[Kain]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an Iridium flare?

Can't wait till winder time for Orion to come back! I can't wait to see M42!

Kain

[GordonCopestake]

Iridium flares are glares of sunlight reflected off satellites that form the iridium network (trade name not element)

http://satobs.org/iridium.html

[FLO]

They are - I am told - quite bright and spectacular 8)

[Astroman]

Iridium flares can go as bright as -8. Venus is -4. Magnitude is a roughly logarithmic scale, so 3 magnitudes is 10 times as bright, meaning a -8 mag is ~13 times as bright as Venus.

Yeah, they can be pretty spectacular.

Sometimes, you're not located right in the path, so they can be dimmer, too. I generally don't bother unless they're brighter than -4 or so. The one in the picture was a -6, if I remember right.

[FLO]

You can get info on when they are likely to occur over your area here:

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