Quote:
Originally Posted by LAW
I've seen exactly the same thing a few months ago, it lasted too long to be a point meteor, but didn't move like a satellite. I figured it must have been a flare off the solar panels of a geosynchronous satellite.
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I had never heard of this one, but I looked it up and it seems like the only viable explanation.
However
http://www.satobs.org/geosats.html points out that:
Quote:
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Typically the satellite will be in the mag. +11 to +14 range (or dimmer), but brightening by several magnitudes when the geometry is favourable (around mag. +5 to +6 is not untypical). One satellite is reported to have briefly been visible to the naked eye at mag. +3 !
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My guess it hit mag 1.5 at least. Given the full moon flooding out most visible light, this one easily cut through.