Saw something funky

Hobbes · 07-12-2003 4:37am #1

Wondering if anyone else knew what it was..

about 4:20am and a load of guys are trying to sneak through back gardens without any success. I'm out in the back garden and I look up west, there is a star I think in the lower angle of the sky, about an inch to the left of it there was like a huge bright light for a split second.

I thought I imagined it but the person who was with me saw it too. I don't think it was a shooting star unless it was coming right at us.

Here is an example of what it was like.

Cake Fiend · 07-12-2003 6:28am

Whereabouts was this?

oscarBravo · 07-12-2003 2:10pm

Iridium flare?

Dotsie~tmp · 07-12-2003 2:20pm

Is it possible you were lucky enough to see a gamma-ray-burst. See here.

Hobbes · 07-12-2003 9:04pm

Wasn't flare, it was round not flat. I thought gamma ray bursts were like fatal to the planet (would be the last thing I see?)

albertw · 07-12-2003 10:36pm

Originally posted by Hobbes
Wasn't flare, it was round not flat. I thought gamma ray bursts were like fatal to the planet (would be the last thing I see?)

Well if it was in this galaxy and aimed at us it could be the beginning of the end for Earth. They would not be bright to the naked eye unless they were very close.

Plane turning, solar panel rotating, head on meteor... I dont see any similar reports on UK or isish astronomy sights, sorry.

Cheers,
~Al

jArgHA · 08-12-2003 11:54am

most likely iridium flare. these do not appear as 'flat' usually are observed as a very bright 'starlike' point for a brief moment in time, then they fade as quickly as they appeared.

that or a weather balloon surrounded by wild geese with car headlights projecting onto them.

halenger · 08-12-2003 1:17pm

Nothing on Heaven's Above for that time of the morning yesterday. So couldn't be an iridium...

Only thing I see is:

Name: Cosmos 2237 Rocket
Magnitude: 4.4
Start: 04:23:12 43° E
Max: 04:23:12 43° E
End: 04:27:32 10° SE

But that was in the east. I think. I'm not great at reading these things!!

Heaven's Above link

Good luck on your hunt.

halenger · 08-12-2003 1:20pm

That was also a transit so it would've appeared to be moving and doubt it would've been a flash.

Guess it could've just been a fireball? (something burning up as it hit the atmosphere)

albertw · 08-12-2003 2:40pm

Originally posted by halenger
Nothing on Heaven's Above for that time of the morning yesterday. So couldn't be an iridium...

Iridium flares are localised to within a few kilometers, so you would need the exact location to rule in or out a flare.

However as you say a flare at 4am or so would be a bit early to catch sunlight.

cheers,
~Al
--
www.irishastronomy.org

Dotsie~tmp · 08-12-2003 4:57pm

Lets stop beating around the fúcking bush, it was the alien mothership and you all know it!

Shaque attack · 09-12-2003 7:45pm

Originally posted by Dotsie~tmp
Lets stop beating around the fúcking bush, it was the alien mothership and you all know it!

Looks more like the deathstar. Ahh duck and cover.Ahhhh

Peace · 09-12-2003 7:56pm

Well if it is aliens...you all better put on clean underwear becuase the gang probing will be starting pretty soon. Man i hoped this wouldn't happen again.

Redshift · 11-12-2003 12:52am

Let's keep it on topic people.

Red

Sev · 12-12-2003 1:15pm

Most likely an iridium flare. Its basically a dim moving star that appears out of nowhere, gets very bright very quickly, and fades away just as rapidly. Their magnitude depends on how perfectly your location is lined up for event, but they do get very bright indeed, like -8 or -9 sometimes, comparable to the brightness of the moon (the magnitude of the full moon is about -12.7 IIRC, but its spread over a larger surface). Since they dont last too long in the sky, their movement isnt always that readily apparent. If I knew your rough location I could confirm that.

oneweb · 14-12-2003 2:40pm

It's Venus is it not?

Impurity · 22-12-2003 2:06pm

Does sound like an Iridium flare,

I saw one when i was pretty drunk after a night out, and was having a smoke on my backdoor step and i looked up and saw a huge light getting bigger every second and then disappear (only lasted literally about 4 seconds), i was a bit freaked out so i emailed a guy on the irish astronomical site and he confirmed that i should have seen an iridium flare in and around the time.

If you go onto the site, you can actually tell if there are going to be/have been in your area. not sure of the address but you can do a google.ie search and find it easily

albertw · 22-12-2003 3:53pm

Originally posted by Impurity
If you go onto the site, you can actually tell if there are going to be/have been in your area. not sure of the address but you can do a google.ie search and find it easily

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Cheers,
~Al

PunyHuman · 05-01-2004 3:09am

Just reading this and I think I saw an Iridium flare as well, in Donnybrook, on about 26 November at about 5.30pm, flash in the southern sky at about 45 degrees to the horizon, lasted about three seconds and must have got down to magnitude -5 at least.

www.heavens-above.com don't seem to have a history of flare predictions going that far back though

. Anyone know where I could find out?

Also saw four Ursids there at the start of last month in the time it takes to have a smoke.

Saw something funky

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