| Iridium Flare Ten seconds of Glory |
|
| Main Astronomy Page Image Gallery Main Page Projects Page | |
|
Iridium communications satellites have flat antennas with a mirror-like surface. When the sun angle is just right, these satellites can reflect the sun directly at a ground observer, and for a few seconds, the satellite becomes the brightest object in the sky (mag -8!). The effect is called an Iridum Flare. Because the satellites are maintained in a precise orientation, the appearance of these "flares" is predictable. On the ground, the flare path is only a few miles wide. Visit the Heavens-Above web site to see when an Iridium Flare will be coming to your back yard. On average, a very bright flare will be visible from any given location once or twice each week. |
|
 Iridium Flare from mid-town Tucson on March 30, 2010. A two-minute exposure shows the background star trails. The flare lasted 10 seconds. Imager: Canon Rebel DSLR with a 23mm lens. |
 Click the image above to watch video of the flare. Imager: Webcam with a Canon 17mm lens (5 frames/sec). |
 Above: Full frame image. See a familiar pattern in the star trails? Below: Sky chart overlay. | |
 | |