Shooting star? I'm not sure it was.

[Sconesbie]

Last night (Wed 15th) while I was checking the stars out with naked eye, just looking up at nothing really, I noticed what looked like a shooting star. In saying that, I don't think it was. It moved about as fast as the ISS and was lit up similar but it wasn't that either as it had passed by only about half hour to three qtr hour before. I checked Starwalk just to clarify, nope not it.

It moved from just near Orion's Belt in a westerley direction and I lost it in the darkness after about 40 seconds.

Weird!

[leon]

Scott I imagine it would be one of the many Satellites that are up there, and there are plenty.

Leon

[Sconesbie]

You could be right Leon. Starwalk had heaps of Satellites on it. I didn't know they lit up like that. Maybe it was the reflection off the moon. Pretty cool none the less.

[astroron]

Hi Sconesbie, Satellites shine by the reflected light of the Sun.
Even though the Sun has been Set for a few hours,depending on how high the Satellite is,it still can be seen to shine.
The Higher the satellite is the later on in the night it can be seen as the sun's light will still shine on it , depending on how far a way from the Earths limb the Satellite is.
Space born objects do not reflect the light of the moon as the Moon is behind the satellite,plus the moon is to faint to cause a reflection on a satellite.
There are thousands of Satellites and bits of space craft,usually call "Space Junk" floating around the Earth.
Have a look at a site called "heavens above" www.heavens-above.com
you will get plenty of info for satellites ,comets etc.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Ron's described the situation of the visibility of satellites very well. Their distance from Earth and their position in space relative to Earth also means that there are some satellites that can be seen through a scope even at midnight. These are only seen through a scope as they would need to be very, very far away to be able to be caught by the light of the sun at that time of the night.

Wait until you get buzzed by a satellite whizzing through your field of view across the Moon when you are looking at it! That'll freak ya! :D . I've had that happen twice to me now. The first one must have been quite a low flying, and big sucker, as I thought I could just make out some of the solar panels and antennae detail. Bloody awesome buzz it gave me! :D

[starfield7]

Scott,

iridium flares (old telcom satellites) can brighten rapidly and then fade, taking on the appearance of a very slow moving meteorite. Perhaps that is what you saw? If you're observant and know when and where to look, you can see one or two each night.

[astroron]

Dave,Iridium satellites are very much alive and working.
Very rare to see two Iridium satellites in a night in the one location but possible.
All flaring satellites are not Iridium, most satellites can flare if in the right position and time,even the ISS and HST.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Sconesbie]

After I've finished with my scope of a night, I often just stand around looking up at the sky just gazing, looking aimlessly. If I see anything, bonus. If not, no big deal. It's amazing and who knows, might see something like I did the other night. It never ceases to amaze me what's up there.

[mithrandir]

Some of the Iridium satellites have a failover satellite in an almost identical orbit. It isn't that uncommon to get flares from both of them within a minute.

If you have CdC (Cartes du Ciel) with a current set of TLEs it can predict Iridium flares for your location. eg:

[astroron]

They are not a nightly occurrence, maybe one out of 50 observations for the average Joe.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[mithrandir]

True Ron, but it does happen. I had two flares in 5 minutes tonight. #55 at 22:09:34 and #28 at 22:14:33. Both at Az 107. One Alt 37, the other 42.

#40 at 05:16 tomorrow should visible despite being after nautical twilight. Mag -8.4

[Jon]

And there is, of course, an app that will let you see predicted iridium flares on your phone. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/iridium-flares/id300477895?mt=8

[Sconesbie]

Well, tonight was very clear. In 20 minutes, I counted 9 different moving objects of what ever description. Two looked like they were on a collision course but I reckon missed by miles. This space watching stuff is just getting better.