what did I just see????

[Chippy3476]

Hi all,
I was just outside looking up to the south east and I saw what looked like a star getting brighter and brighter, it got super bright and then faded out to a small star again??? It was incredible but I have no idea what it was. Any ideas what it may have been?
Thanks Dan

[Regulus]

Usually this is a tumbling satellite. They are visible for a while after the sunsets, They are tumbling and different aspects revolve into the sunlight making them flare up and die out.

[Kugelblitz]

It could also have been an Iridium flare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare), they can get to be pretty bright.
There's also websites and phone apps that can predict where/when they are visible.

[MrB]

Or a very distant passenger airline with the sun reflecting off it, seen that a few times and looks just as described above.

[RAJAH235]

Hi,
What!?
No-one posted the best site for finding when "stuff", such as Iridium flares, is/are going to be visible?

ref; > http://www.heavens-above.com/

Register, log in, add your co-ordinates & away you go.

[Suzy]

:lol: hehe I often wonder what people make of these when they spot them!

Hi Dan,
As Rajah has suggested, the Heaven's Above site is brilliant.
Those iridium flares are so addictive!

On the Heavens Above main page, click on iridium flares then you will see a table for the ones coming up. You can click on the date of any of them which will bring up a chart which shows the flight path. In my short experience from viewing them, the flight path line looks long on the map, but I only get to see the satellite when it's close to the flare centre where it brightens dramatically. They can range from magnitude -1 up to magnitude -8:eyepop:. If you're close to the flight path, they can be really bright. There's a google map you can click on which shows where it is (but also tells you in the table how far you are from it anyway).

There's also apps for your smartphone which will alert you. I like the ISS Detector app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector&hl=en) (does iridium flares too).

Make sure you set it for twilight times & choose, say, over mag. -1, otherwise that alarm will be going off all day. :rolleyes: I have my alerts set for 30 mins notice which gives me plenty of time to study the map but not long enough that I'll forget. :D
If you figure out how to use the navigator arrow (I can't, but I prefer maps anyway), it'll tell you where to look along with a beeping sound which gets louder the closer it gets.

Happy new addiction :thumbsup: .

[PeterEde]

Saw it too. Interesting. Very bright. Venus magnitude or better. Just left and high of tuc

[PeterEde]

Wasn't an iridium flare. Not according to Heavensabove. What ever it was it went from very bright to extremely bright to gone. It lasted maybe as much as 30 seconds.

[astroron]

30 seconds really?,:eyepop: and you saw no sign of movement:question:
If you had a pair of binoculars,you would have probably seen it as a satellite.
Iridium satellites are not the only satellites that flair.
Reports like this have no value with out times hight angle etc.
When a satellite is heading away it is harder to tell that it is not stationary especially in twilight.
How ever good heavens above is it doesn't tell you all the satellites and space junk out there.
Best of luck in finding out what your bright light is,but with so little information I don't like your chances. :(
Cheers:thumbsup:

[PeterEde]

No movement unless it was coming straight at me.
I was going through aligning at the time and looked up and saw a dim star appear from nowhere. As I watched it got brighter by a few magnitude. No transition of brightness just dim to really bright. It lasted long enough to consider removing the camera off my scope.
I thought maybe I saw a plane in rapid decent into Adelaide. Then I saw this thread after posting mine to see how far it was.
If we all saw the same thing in three state no way it was a flare, a satellite or meteorite.
As per Dan 1st post. I saw it grow in brightness but it didnt fade out to me. Just went off

[Chippy3476]

I still have no idea what it was as it was not moving at all!!!!! it was just a dim star that got extremely bright, then just faded back to nothing! The wife and I could still see it fading in brightness for atleast a minute before it got to small to see, but it mever moved at all just remained in the exact same spot, im puzzled.:shrug:

[julianh72]

I think we have two separate events here:


Chippy3476 in Caboolture on 11 September

PeterEde in Melbourne on 14 September

[Starlite]

Saw it too, was cruising my 16" SW Dob with new bino's just left of Scorpius, thought it was a SN, around,6.30-7 pm flared for about 10 secs then gone.:screwy: seemed longer but 15 secs max.

[astroron]

If it remained as bright as Venus for up to a minute,I am sure it would have been picked up by more professional surveys.
A minute is a long time for Meteors satellites or other normal things happening in the sky.
Supernova's and other type of star explosions don't just act like what you describe.
Gama Ray Bursts as bright as what you said this object was would have been picked by the dedicated space satellites such as "Swift"
As I said a good pair of binoculars come in handy at times like this..
One should always take a proper note of the time and other relevant
Data when things like this happen.

Cheers:thumbsup:

[Starlite]

Thanks Ron, Good advice for everyone, I'll be more prepared for the next event when it happens.Cheers.:thumbsup:

[PeterEde]

Ok Didn't see the day diff between mine and Chippys post. But same area of sky. Similar description.
What I saw lasted 30 seconds approx from initial sighting to full flare to nothing. No fade out just nothing like a switch was turned off.
Seen in same area of sky states (2000's km) apart is not a satellite.
Coincidence maybe

[PeterEde]

Yep I recorded it exactly as I saw it 6.39pm by my phone time. In the area of Tuc47 (a little to the left). Max magnitude of Venus if not brighter. Then off. No fade.

[LewisM]

I watched a similar event last year in the vicinty of one of the supernovae at the time (the one that was pink - can't recall which/where). I saw a "star" flare from normal, to Venus intensity/magnitude for about 20 seconds, then back to normal.

I have since considered it a point or head-on meteorite, but still not entirely certain as I do recall seeing the "star" before and after.

Odd, but I didn't get overly worked up. Perhaps it was a γ-ray burst.

[PeterEde]

Just be nice to know