Weird satellite tonight? Anybody else see it?

[Tim]

I didnt check the time, but it was around 7pm or earlier this evening when a fast moving bright object, faster than ISS moved across the sky from west to east.

It had an unusual blinking pattern I have not seen before, one bright pulse, then dimmer, then nothing, very quickly.

I thought it may have been a plane, but to be moving that fast it would have to have been low, and there was no sound from it, and as expected, when it was well over in the eastern sky it suddenly disappeared, presumably as it entered the earths shadow.

Anybody else witness this??? Anybody have a clue as to what it might be? It was a first for me, I have never seen anything like it.

Cheers

Tim

[tbird]

I think I saw this, although I thought it was a little after 7pm but can't be sure. I assumed it was an aircraft as it was quite bright.

[bm1980]

yes i saw it ,i think ,i was observing m42 when something shot acros my field of view in my 25mm ep.

[leenewtoastro]

rewind stellarium see if its listed

[Tim]

Yep, it would have shot right across M42, I have checked Heavens above for the usual suspects, nothing there.

[leenewtoastro]

cosmos 1833 19:38

[Brent]

Yes, saw it from the car, straight through M42, checked Stellarium when I got home...as leenewtoastro above says - cosmos 1833. Never seen one blink before though!

[Tim]

rewind stellarium see if its listed

Good idea

Might have been the UARS by the look of it. Proper funky bit of kit, no wonder it was flashing so strangely!

UARS Science main page

[tbird]

Not cosmos 1833 what I saw, too late, and the object I saw travelled further to the east.

[GazA]

i saw USARS was a fast mover!

[rocketandroll]

I think I saw it.

I made a note as it was so wierd. It was brighter than the ISS (which I've seen a few times) possibly the brightest thing in the sky. Very fast moving. Went sort of east north east to west, south west at about 7:10pm ish. The flashing was intense, literally from the brightest thing in the sky (except the moon) to invisible. The flash rate was approx 0.8seconds as I timed it.

Would love to know what it was.

Ben

[peeceeTal2M]

Might have been Iridium 66 (+)

[sbooder]

I saw that thing. I put it down as a plane because it had a blink, but I thought it strange that it had no sound and the sort of linear feel that satellites have, and was very high, it was brighter than the ISS and that is why I noticed it. Very odd!

[Jack123456]

hi everyone

i saw blinking satalite on saturday night.

fits the description very well, fast moving, really bright, and blinking contiuously.

i just rewinded stellarium, and the only satalite in that area was Ajisai(EGS)

i looked it up on wiki, and i says that it blinks because of its rotation, but not normally visible to the naked eye.

I can't be cirtain that it was this, but it seems like a good contender