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Very bright satellite in the sky 15 minutes ago

  • 18-09-2012 9:33pm
    #1
    shizz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,506 ✭✭✭


    Hey guys. At first I thought it was the ISS but it's currently over South Africa so it's not. It was nearly directly north moving towards the horizon. A good bit right of Ursa Major. Any idea which it was? I've seen a few satellites the past clear nights but none were as bright as this, so I imagine it was big.


Comments

  • #2
    jfSDAS
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 352 ✭✭jfSDAS


    Not sure what satellite that could have been shizz but the predictions for my location in Terenure on Heavens Above don't show anything significantly bright.

    However, it is possible one of the satellites in the list generated might be reflecting sunlight stronger than the magnitude predicted -- maybe the Terra satellite which is polar orbiting and sun-synchronous? Terra was passing over around the time you saw the object earlier.

    http://www.heavens-above.com/allsats.aspx?Mag=3.5&lat=53.3&lng=-6.283333&loc=Terenure&alt=65&tz=GMT

    John


  • #3
    shizz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,506 ✭✭✭shizz


    I guess it's the best guess. Was very bright though. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch it the whole way as I wanted to show someone it but by the time I got back it was gone. Think I caught a glimpse of it again slightly above the horizon but it was much much dimmer.


  • #4
    jfSDAS
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 352 ✭✭jfSDAS


    It's surprising how sometimes when watching a satellite of average brightness it suddenly flares up as its orientation changes so all the reflective surfaces catch the sun. It can last just a moment or slowly fade.

    Other times you might see a satellite slowly fluctuate in brightness which is a sure sign it could be a spent rocket stage tumbling.

    john


  • #5
    IE2012
    Closed Accounts Posts: 77 ✭✭IE2012


    shizz wrote: »
    Hey guys. At first I thought it was the ISS but it's currently over South Africa so it's not. It was nearly directly north moving towards the horizon. A good bit right of Ursa Major. Any idea which it was? I've seen a few satellites the past clear nights but none were as bright as this, so I imagine it was big.

    I saw this too very bright the colour of xenon lights, in the north sky very big too! It was probably a bit of space junk


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