So where is my Iridium Flare?

[OneOfOne]

I checked out Heavens-Above on Friday to see if there were any flares visible in my area in the next few days. I have never seen one and had never really looked at this site before. Anyway, it came up with one mag -8 at 7:12pm, altitude 37 degrees almost directly west. So my wife and I both went outside a couple of minutes early and stared intently at the broad region of the sky. By 7:15 we called it quits, thankfully it was dark enough that the neighbours wouldn't have seen us standing outside staring into space for 5 minutes.

So am I missing something (other than the flare). Is there a bit of leeway in the time estimate? How long to they last, a flash or a couple of seconds? I know some of you guys have a lot of experience with flares so, when in doubt, ask an expert....so I am asking!

[Lee]

You need:
a compass (or knowledge of directions in your area!)
the correct time - vital.

Before you try to spot one - go to
http://www.greenwichmeantime.com
to set your time - iridiums always run on time, generally within several seconds - differences probably due to differences in what lat/long you are using and what lat/long you are standing on.

Then try again - depending on the brightness and how dark it is, they are pretty cool.
Once they are brighter than about -3 they are really easy - the westerly ones are harder if there is still light from the sunset of course. My 62 year old mum spotted saw a -4 from suburban Brisbane, having the correct time is the clincher. I've driven out to the lat/long of a -8 flare once, in a very dark country location - spectacular!

I usually get outside a minute or two early and catch them at least 95% of the time if it is perfectly clear. If you have the right time, call it off after a minute after the time.... you've missed the bus!

In dark sites you can just see them coming before they flare also, not in the city though.

[OneOfOne]

I figured if anyone would reply to my question, it would be YOU!

I just checked my watch against the link you sent, and my watch is currently running about 15 seconds slow. I am pretty sure we were outside a couple of minutes early and I used the map from the details to work out where to look, the flare was expected to be -8 or so and figured I could hardly miss it provided I am scanning the, more or less, correct direction.

I will try again in a few days....provided the clouds stay away. I will follow up when I catch one!

[Blue Skies]

In my experience they are often late (as according to my timepieces) so I always hang around at leat 5 minutes after the stated time. I'll bet it did flash - just after you called it quits! But do try again, and again, and again, they are always good to see. A few weeks ago there was a -6 predicited for my location just 5 minutes before sunrise. Why not give it a go? I thought and although I couldn't see it coming, which made it harder, it certainly flashed bright enough to see.

[dennislowe]

I saw one a couple of weeks ago dead on time, but one on the next night was a no show. It was twilight so it may have been too light.

[ving]

heres one for ya!

[Lee]

I've seen a bunch now - always on time. Ones I've missed have always been low in the sky (especially western at sunset - hard to see) or in between scattered clouds.

[Mick]

You also need to have your location in Heavens above set as accurate as you can a few K's off and you may miss the flare.

[Lee]

I think if your actual lat/long is off along the line of the flare, the flare will be early or late, and if you are off to the side of the ground track the flare will be a different magnitude. Both errors would affect the alt/az of the flare too - but by how much I don't know.

[JimmyH155]

can somebody enlighten me. What on Earth is an iridium flare?? Sounds something diabolical fired off by a Superpower. Radio active? Space ship? Isn't iridium something nasty? :( What is it supposed to do? Or has some billionnaire got a lot of fireworks and spiked them up??

[Lee]

Try this
http://www.heavens-above.com/iridiumhelp.asp

[Mick]

They are Communications satellites with a twist, following is a link to a thread with a photo of a -8 Iridium satellite that I took a while ago if you are interested.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=534&highlight=Iridium+flare

[RAJAH235]

Here's another example...Was almost directly over head.
Just gotta make sure your co-ords are correct..I've missed a few, by .....that.......................... .......much..:P...:D L.

[Astroman]

ahhh the elusive -8 mag Iridium flares, I remember travelling 1.5hours to get to the spot of a -8mag flare(crazy yes!). Only to have it clouded out, but I did get a glimpse of it "through" the cloud. It was bright enough to shine through the layer of cloud, pretty impressive.

Keep hunting you will get one.

[Lee]

An iridium pic of mine from last year.....

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=4527

great fun chasing these bad boys!

[OneOfOne]

I think I know what I did wrong. I interpreted the map as being where the flare will appear relative to where I am standing. So I stood facing west at an altitude of about 40 degrees when I should have been looking almost directly north. There is a small -1 flare tonight, bearing 9 degrees, altitude about 40 degrees. If the sky is clear, I will be out there around 6:45 tonight, if this works, out there again on Tuesday for a -8!

[ving]

have a look at post 6 :)

[OneOfOne]

Got it!

I went outside at about 6:43 last night to catch a -1 at about 6:45. We were looking into the sky for a minute or so but couldn't find anything, then my daughter said "is that it?" I could tell it wasn't a plane as it wasn't blinking and was going at a bit of a pace across the sky. I guess it lasted about 30 seconds as it traversed from about directly overhead, heading almost due north (as predicted). Just before it would have gone behind the neighbours roof it was snuffed out, it must have dropped behind the Earths shadow.

So now I am getting ready for the -8 on Tuesday night around the same time. I may try setting up the video camera to see if I can catch it.

Watch this space!