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Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Alerts! Questions? Discussions... => Topic started by: Mike on Feb 01, 2012, 17:59:49

Title: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: Mike on Feb 01, 2012, 17:59:49
At 19:10:44 tonight there will be a Mag -8.0 Iridium Flare (Iridium 8).

Altitude: 36º
Direction: 22º (slightly right of North)

These figures are for Orpington but should be valid for locations within a reasonable distance. The actual flare centre is 3.8km West of here.

If clear I am going to try taking an image of it with the Fisheye.

Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: MarkS on Feb 01, 2012, 18:52:52

Looking forward to the picture!
Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: Mike on Feb 01, 2012, 19:27:10
Here you go:- 

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6802725429_83d59ca7e6_b.jpg)

Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: The Thing on Feb 01, 2012, 19:30:51
Lovely!
Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: JohnP on Feb 01, 2012, 20:18:24
Excellent... Like the addition of roofs for scale... Nice one,  John
Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: MarkS on Feb 01, 2012, 22:13:00

Beautiful!  And very nicely timed.
How long was that exposure?
Title: Re: Bright Iridium Flare tonight
Post by: Mike on Feb 01, 2012, 22:26:51
It was approximately 20 seconds. I used a remote cable and manually started and ended the exposure. You can usually see the iridium's well before they flare so I just watched it, started the exposure as soon as it looked like it was about to brighten then closed the shutter after it had faded.
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