Great video of Iridium Flare

[julianh72]

Here’s a pretty impressive video of an Iridium Flare that was captured using a ZWO astro-camera on a tracking telescope mount, which was following the satellite rather than normal sidereal tracking. (I'm guessing they were using hand control tracking?)

They've tracked it for 3 minutes, so must have followed it pretty much from first appearance until it faded out. The satellite is brighter than most of the background stars that are sweeping past, until the flare itself, which happens at about 1’30” – WOW! :eyepop:

A nice piece of capture work!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=13447226889102 84&id=442194685829760

[xelasnave]

Hi Julian
Is there any way of seeing it other than face book.

I remember the first time I saw one.
Didn't know they existed and wow.

Another time I found one in a wide field of the Milky Way and as if that wasn't like winning the lottery captured another a week later.

Alex

[julianh72]

Sorry, I haven't been able to find the video on any other site. (ZWO - the makers of the camera used - linked to the Facebook video, but did not re-post it on another site.)

For those unable to stream the Facebook video, I've done a couple of crude single-frame captures to give a rough impression, with the satellite highlighted in each capture. (I didn't think it was necessary to highlight the Iridium satellite in Frame 4!)

[xelasnave]

Thanks Julian.
Have you ever seen one while observing?
The one I saw did not show until the flash...and it was as if someone flashed a mirror only a hundred feet up.

I could not work it out.

Alex

[julianh72]

They always seem to be around sunset or dawn - presumably because they are low-altitude satellites - so generally a bit early for peak telescope viewing time for me. I've never tracked a satellite with any of my telescopes (only visual / binoculars), but I have it in my "bucket list" of things to try.

The Heavens Above web page http://www.heavens-above.com and iPhone / Android apps are a great way to identify upcoming Iridium flashes (and other satellite passes) at your location. I'm looking forward to checking out the new "Mayak" flashes, if / when they start making good predictions.

A couple of years ago (thanks to Heavens Above predictions) I had the good fortune to see a transit of the ISS across the face of the Moon (which I did see with my telescope - but it was tracking the Moon, not the ISS), AND an Iridium flash, on the same evening, at the same location (Robertson, southern suburb of Brisbane). I dragged all of my family along with me (who usually simply "tolerate" my strange hobbies), and even they had to admit that it was a "pretty cool" evening!

[deanm]

Pretty impressive if hand-tracked in 2 axes!
Dean

[xelasnave]

My first sighting was early morning and I had been up all night so a little dazed and confused to start with...
Alex

[deanm]

The best I ever saw was a double flare - a replacement Iridium was being maneuvered into position to replace another - the satellites were perhaps 0.5 seconds (in time!) apart and flared almost simultaneously: wow!
Dean

[Visionary]

A number of years ago when I was still fishing, I witnessed a flare just like the flare recorded on the ZWO camera. Without reference to anything other than rudimentary Astro knowledge, you can imagine how my mind was spinning!
Understanding what I saw that night was one of the major impetus that got me into this dreadful spending loop that is Astro. The Irridum Satalite owes me many thousands of dollars!

David