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Re: (meteorobs) Fwd: [Astronomer] Observation -- Possible meteorite?



Hi, Lew:

I'm not surprised that your point meteor count hasn't increased much due to
Iridium flares.  The flares tend to be very bright (to be honest, I don't
know if dim ones occur -- the only ones I've seen predicted are magnitude +1
or brighter), and I suspect you've seen enough of them not to confuse them
with meteors.  As you point out, they also move slightly during the flare.
However, the particular event that Mr. Jacobs observed was very short -- he
estimated it at 1.5 seconds, which (while not unheard of) is considerably
shorter than the typical flares I have seen.  The Iridium satellites are in
higher than average, middle altitude orbits, so their apparent motions are
noticeably slower than for the satellites most commonly seen.  It wouldn't
surprise me if an Iridium satellite's motion during such a brief event might
go unnoticed, particularly if there were no good landmarks nearby in the sky
for comparison.

I agree with you that few meteor observers with confuse a typical Iridium
flash with a point meteor!

Dave

> Dave and Wayne, I was somewhat confused by your advice re: point meteors
and
> Iridiums. I don't watch for the Iridiums - don't even check their times
when I'm
> going out to observe, before or after. So I've probably seen less than my
share
> of Iridium flares. But every single Iridium flare I've ever seen showed at
least
> SOME perceptible motion: point meteors on the other hand, show no
detectable
> motion for me (though they may for sharper eyes - note how few of these
Bob
> Lunsford sees, for example). Are there in fact Iridiums which flash so
briefly
> that they're only visible above mag 5/6/7 for subsecond time periods?
>
> PS: I haven't NOTICED any significant increase in my point meteor rates
since
> the Iridiums went up... Of course, I'm sure some of what I've logged as
point
> meteors were very slow - even geosyncronous - satellite flashes. Never
thought
> to check prediction services for these flashers after the fact! After all,
I see
> so few point meteors per year, it hardly seems worth it.
>
> Clear skies,
> Lew
>
>
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