Iridium Flare ?

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I have never knowingly spotted one of these, neither have I bothered to look for them but taking the wheelie bins down to the kerb for tomorrows collection I looked up and in the dark area between Crux and The Pointers spotted a bright quick flash. Then another and a few more from a slow travelling object. Too high for a plane which was my first thought. Then it disappeared, no flashes after about 9 or 10 over a 20 second time frame.
But I spotted a much dimmer flash a bit further on and a couple more then no more. Time about 18:50 local.
Iridium ?
Flashes were very bright, small but bright.

[N1 (Mirko)]

That doesn't sound like Iridium but some tumbling object. Iridium flares are usually singular events with a bell-shaped brightness curve. They make for great party tricks and announced appropriately (such as "10-9-8-....") can give you guru-like status in an "ignorant" crowd .

These might help:

heavens-above.com
www.calsky.com/

[ZeroID (Brent)]

OK, thanks Mirko, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a 'real' one.

[astro744]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

OK, thanks Mirko, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a 'real' one.

There are apps and web sites showing Iridium flare predictions for your local area. The timings are highly accurate and the flares can be very bright, (-6 to -8 mag. are very impressive!).

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Just checked CalSky for my event, looks like it was COSMO - SkyMed 4. Fits all the parameters, time and extinction.

Cheers all