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View Full Version here: : something strange 18-9-12


Chooka
20-09-2012, 09:30 AM
Hi all, firstly I'm pretty sure I'm not going crazy but there's always the chance...

On Tuesday night at about 7:05pm, I was outside at work and gazing at the sky while I was walking to another building. Now I've used stellarium as a reference and from what I gather I was looking at either Altair or Dabih, not 100% as I was in a ally between buildings. Anyway it was REALLY bright, I said to myself "thats weird jupiter won't be up for hours" and kept watching it then it got dimmer back to its normal magnitude. Another guy at work saw me dumbfounded gazing at the sky and looked too but it was all over at that stage....
I'm I crazy? or did I see something special???

jjjnettie
20-09-2012, 11:52 AM
:) I reckon it might have been an Iridium Flare.
You could check Heaven's Above or Calsky to find out if one was predicted for your region at that time.

Jackson42South
20-09-2012, 03:41 PM
Iridium Satellite: Iridium 96 (http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?SatID=27376&lat=-27.55&lng=151.9667&alt=586&loc=Toowoomba&TZ=UCTm10)
As seen from Toowoomba at 7:07 pm.
At mag -3, it would be near Jupiter in brightness.
http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium.asp?Dur=2&Date=41170.2238328241&lat=-27.55&lng=151.9667&loc=Toowoomba&alt=586&tz=UCTm10

Regards
Paul.

Chooka
21-09-2012, 12:05 AM
Thank you!!