Rob's sighting does sound like a satellite flare, or a point meteor (one headed directly at the observer), but the location doesn't sound right for an Iridium satellite...they aren't in polar orbits, are they? In my case, I didn't see a flash of light, it was mid-afternoon. All I saw was a short contrail magically appear, much faster than a jet could have left it. Like a streak in a cloud chamber magnified millions of times. C. --- "Lambert, Aaron" <Aaron.Lambert@Williams.com> wrote:
It could have been an iridium flare. At www.heavens-above.com you can get predictions, etc for satellites and flares. I do not know if you can look at history, but it may be worth a try.
Aaron
-----Original Message----- From: Rob Ratkowski [mailto:ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 3:05 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Daytime meteor trains
Chuck
Strange things happening in Utah also, good. I was shooting a wedding Saturday and about an hr or so after sunset, I was looking at the Big Dipper and Polaris when a bright starlike flash (mag -2 to -4) appeared about 5 degrees away in the 2 o'clock position. At first I thought it was a plane, but that was the only flash, no plane, anyone hear of that flash on Saturday??
Aloha Rob
www.RobRatkowski.com
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