Irridium Flare

[Ric]

Hi all, I was setting up the scope last night about half an hour after sunset and Kee pointed out a satelite travelling from the east to the north east. As we were watching it suddenly flared to a brightness equal to Sirius or even a bit brighter for a couple of seconds.
Was this an Irridium flare, does anyone know if any were predicted around that time?
It was definitely very spectacular

Cheers

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

If you have a look at Heavens-Above you can check out flares for the past couple of days, you may be able to check it there? Just enter your location.

[Ric]

Thanks OneOfOne, I went and had a look at the site, even registered. It's a very informative site. There was no mention of any Irridium flare for around that time which now makes it more intriguing.

Cheers

[astroron (Ron)]

Hi Ric, see my post on strange observation, just because it flares does not mean that it is an irridium satalite, also Heavens Above does not allways log every irridium satalite for your area, I have noticed in the past irridium flares that were not in heavens above but were on another site that also gives satalite flare sightings.

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

I also saw the s o m e t h i n g . Very spectacular. I hope it is a flare.
Geoff

[Ric]

Hi Ron & Geoff, I'm pretty sure it was a satelite in the fact that you could see a pinpoint of light whizzing along before and after it flared, As you say Ron it might have been an unlisted satelite.
It was a great unexpected sight though, it definitely gets you keen to note the times of the listed ones and keep an eye out for them.

Cheers