Quote:
Originally Posted by stephend
About a fortnight ago I was trying to focus on the trapezium in Orion in the early evening through the industrial glare of Newcastle when this truly awesome satellite burst on the scene. Looked more like an airliner with landing lights on. Anyway it blazed away about due East gradually fading and vanished at about 45 degrees from the Eastern horizon.
Following it with naked eye I saw another satellite on a crossing path heading more or less North. This one was bright but not extraordinary. Its feature was that at one point it distinctly flared up for about a second. By distinctly I mean by more than one magnitude.
I figure the first object had to be the ISS. Re the second, satellites just don't do this, do they?
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Yes they can. It's called a flare. The iridium satellites are reknowned for it as they have large solar panels, so when the geometry is right they reflect a lot of sunlight. I have also see the HST flare - the sun reflects off the objective door.
Al.