flashing lights in orion on 28/3/2012, approx 9.47pm

[Binary Stars (George)]

Hi all,

This is my first post ever but need to share.

Last night, 28/3/2012 at approx 9.47pm, Melbourne time, clear skies, I saw two very bright flashes in Orion between Betelgeuse and Saiph. Each flash lasted about a second and was approx 3 seconds apart. The flashes happened near Altinak and moved from east to west. I have seen shooting stars before but these have been accompanied by a light streak or light tail. In this case, it was just a flash of light (like someone switched on a ceiling light and then switched it off). Did anyone else see this? Any thoughts as to what it may have been?

ps. in terms of scale, if Betelgeuse is a 5 cent piece, the flashes were the size of a $1 coin. Not sure if this means anything but the color of the light appeared to be a bright white!

Thanks,

[Octane (Humayun)]

May have been satellites?

H

[gary]

Hi George,

Thanks for your first post.

You will almost have certainly observed a man-made satellite or booster that is
rotating around one or more of its own axes, most likely to be in a geosynchronous
or even a geostationary orbit.

The equatorial band running through that part of the sky is full of them and
we routinely observe them ourselves, including blinking brightly like a lighthouse
every few seconds as they reflect back the sun's rays. Unlike low Earth
orbit satellites that get eclipsed by the Earth's shadow typically not long after
sunset, these high orbit objects can be bathed in sunlight even late at night.

If you are standing at the right place on Earth at the right time, the light will bounce
off the object and reach you, like someone with a signaling mirror.

The best known bright flares that come from satellites are those that come from the Iridium
communications satellites. There are web sites that will provide you with a prediction
as to when to see an Iridium flare. It is not uncommon for them to reach magnitude -8.
For example see http://www.heavens-above.com/ and look under the links for Iridium Flares.

[gregbradley]

I have seen this. There are a lot of satellites that pass through that area as shown in the many images of M42.

About 2 months ago I went to my dark site. I arrived and got out of the car and was looking at M42. I was confused for a 2nd as I was seeing an extra "bright star" that I hadn't seen before. I had a brief thought that I hadn't seen it properly before when this bright star vanished!

It was odd because it was almost exactly the same brightness as the other key stars of Orion. It was merely a reflection flash off a satellite.

It also lasted several seconds before it disappeared.

Greg.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Not knowing exactly where in Melbourne, CdC gives as most likely:

Date                Satellite        Magn.    Az    Alt    Range    RA        DE    Dir
2012-03-28 21:44:22 Cosmos 2004 Rk    5.6    274     47     1306    05h34m    -24.2  93
2012-03-28 21:46:52 Meteor 1-27       5.6    275     39     1250    05h12m    -19.4  92
2012-03-28 21:48:22 Cosmos 1023 Rk    5.9    285     40     1140    05h33m    -13.6  92

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yes , George and Greg , I seen the same sort of thing the other night (Tuesday) as well from here in Darwin about 9.30ish , I happened to look in the direction of Orion and took a double take at a new star ,, A supernova ? WOAW!! was my first thought , I got quite excited but by the time I told my friend to look there , at a star that should not be there , it was gone ? .
I did not notice any movement.
Did not think about this until I seen your very first post here George ,, so thank you and ,, mate , and we hope to hear from you again soon .
Brian.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

I have seen this. There are a lot of satellites that pass through that area as shown in the many images of M42.

About 2 months ago I went to my dark site. I arrived and got out of the car and was looking at M42. I was confused for a 2nd as I was seeing an extra "bright star" that I hadn't seen before. I had a brief thought that I hadn't seen it properly before when this bright star vanished!

It was odd because it was almost exactly the same brightness as the other key stars of Orion. It was merely a reflection flash off a satellite.

It also lasted several seconds before it disappeared.

Greg.

[Binary Stars (George)]

Thanks everyone for your replies. the most likely explanation is the iridium flares.....glad i posted as i learnt something new.