Quote:
Originally Posted by astroron
According to "Heavens Above" the further away from your location the flair is the dimmer it is for you at your location 
If you where undernieth it it would be -8, subject to how much sunlight it may receive. It would not be mag -8 for you at your location if the flair was forty kilometers away.
That is my understanding of what" Heavens Above" is telling me.
I will stand corrected if anyone can more enlighten me  |
Thanks Ron, it's an interesting one.
I went back & checked flare predictions at a number of my inputted places on Heavens Above. One particular place had a mag -8 at 11 deg altitude, and the next day a mag -2 at 71 deg altitude. So an Iridium can pass overhead, but you might only get a fraction of the full reflection. Or it can be some distance away (low) and you can cop the full reflection. I know from experience that none of the mag -8 flares I have photographed has been particularly high in the sky, but no doubt if I keep shooting them one will be on the law of averages.
Edit: In summary the brightness is a function of your closeness to the flare path, not the satellite (although obviously the amount of air you're viewing through must have a minor influence).
Cheers -