#1  
Old 18-10-2010, 06:06 PM
Inmykombi's Avatar
Inmykombi (Geoff)
They aint just doubles :o

Inmykombi is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Gosford NSW Australia
Posts: 2,326
Help with Iridium Satellites needed please....

Hi everyone.

I am hoping someone who knows when IRIDIUM satellites were visible last night from Eastern Australia in the Gosfrod area.

I saw 4 flashes in the sky which seemed to be stationary and lasting for about 2-5 seconds in duration. These flashes were brighter than Venus to ther naked eye and appeared in 4 different parts of the sky between about 8pm and 9pm EDST last night 17th Oct.
There positions if I remember correctly were 1st at approx. Nth west Near Ophiucus, 2nd .. Sth West near Tringulum Asutrale, 3rd... near Zenith then one at Nth East.

After these flashes, myself and an observing buddy saw what we thought was the space station crossing from South West to East Nth East around 8.45- 9.15 maybe. The pass was really really slow and the duration was about 2-3 mins. before fading in the shadow of the Earth. Maybe it was another quite sizeable satellite.

I checked on the NASA site and found no passes for the shuttle or ISS or anything else around these times.

If anyone can help with what these satellites were I would appreciate it very much.


Cheers.

Geoffro.

Last edited by Inmykombi; 19-10-2010 at 06:40 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 18-10-2010, 07:57 PM
ChrisM's Avatar
ChrisM
Sandy Ridge Observatory

ChrisM is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Gippsland, VIC
Posts: 763
Geoffro,
Have a look at "Heavens Above" website and enter the lat/long for your location. I did that for Gosford and there was one very bright (mag -8) flare last night (see table below), but not quite at the time you stated (although not sure if DS has been accounted for properly). I don't use the HA site often, but I have found the satellite predictions to be excellent when I have.

Chris



Iridium Flares | Home | Prev. | Next | Help |
Clicking on the time of the flare will load another page with more details,
including a map showing the track of the flare along the ground, and the
location of the nearest point of maximum intensity.
Search Period Start: 19:50, Saturday, 16 October, 2010 Search Period End: 20:50, Monday, 18 October, 2010 Observer's Location: Gosford ( 33.3833°S, 151.3000°E) Local Time: Universal Coordinated Time -10 (GMT + 10:00)
DateLocal
TimeIntensity
( Mag) Alt. Azimuth Distance to
flare centreIntensity at
flare centre
(Mag.)Satellite 16 Oct 19:12:35 -2 60° 57° (ENE) 19.6 km (W) -8 Iridium 80 17 Oct 19:06:31 -8 60° 57° (ENE) 3.6 km (E) -8 Iridium 81

Developed and maintained by Chris Peat, Heavens-Above GmbH
Please read the updated FAQ before sending e-mail.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 18-10-2010, 08:53 PM
Inmykombi's Avatar
Inmykombi (Geoff)
They aint just doubles :o

Inmykombi is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Gosford NSW Australia
Posts: 2,326
Thanks very much for the reply Chris it is appreciated.

I think that Iridium 81 would account for one of the sightings but what baffles me is that the ones I saw appeared stationary as well.

Thx.

again.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 03:27 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement