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(meteorobs) Iridium Flares - Important note to meteor observers



Hi Guys and Gals;
	As I've been thinking about this unique form of light pollution, I've 
become convinced that all serious meteor observers really should do the 
following:

	1. Try and observe a bright Iridium flare. Since they could easily be 
mistaken for a point meteor (or very slow NAMN speed 0.2 :->) we should 
witness one so we know what to look for. 

	2. Have some means of knowing where these flares are likely to be on 
an observing night.
	I have used the method below, and will print these out a week at a 
time for my primary and secondary observing sites. After I've tried some of 
the other programs, perhaps I'll comment on how they work. By printing them 
in advance, as this site gives, at least I'll know to double check.
(BTW, NJAA members, they will be posted weekly on the Meteor Section of the 
bulletin board, and I will keep a file so if you find a 0 speed meteor in 
your observations we can check. As noted on the site, these are very 
specific positions, and such will only be valid for the NJAA Observatory, 
and maybe my house). This site only lists those for the next 7 days, some 
of the other programs can be used to check on a past observation.

	3. I believe this is VERY important for everyone to do, since a point 
meteor is often used to precisely define a radiant's location, and if we 
are getting fake point meteor observations from these numerous satellites, 
much misleading data can be collected.

	4. Any time you record a point meteor, and in fact many times when a 
very slow meteor is reported, we should verify that an Iridium was not 
visible at that place and time. This is an important quality control on our 
observations
	

Before you go to this URL, calculate the following for your observing 
location-
Latitude and Londitude for your site expressed in degrees and decimal.

For example the NJAA Observatory    40d 40m 52s N    74d 53m 54s becomes   
40.681,  -74.8983 
(For west Longitude it is a minus)
	Since other folks have had some problems, it is suggested you first 
pick a nearby town from the locations list, THEN change the Lat/Long to 
match what you have calculated.

Jean-Chritophe suggested this site:

http://www.gsoc.dlrdot de/satvis/

Then find or register your position (this must be accurate to 1 minute for
good iridium flare prediction)


Then Lew said:

but I used the
"Select your location from the Database" option instead.
The site gives you the option of modifying your location
anyway, so this worked out to be a good starting point.

This worked for me, Good Luck! 
Now I've got to see if I can get up at 6:05 AM tomorrow for a -6!! flare 
scheduled, and get these stupid clouds out of the way to see it!!

Wayne Tv
Metrologist
Meteorologist
Meteoricist
Nerd