A Glimpse of Iridium

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    irid20s

    Have you ever heard of iridium flares?  Light reflecting from the main mission antenna on the Iridium communications satellite (since it’s a big shiny aluminum plate-type piece) makes brilliant flares in the sky, mostly at night.  A great page at the Visual Satellite Observer says that the flares are about thirty times brighter than the reflection from Venus.

    Now I’ll be looking for these things – and now I want to go camping in the mountains to get a very bright sky to see one.

    irid40

    Thanks, BoingBoing and Visual Satellite Observer!

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