Map from Heavens Above showing the path of Iridium 96. The satellite will likely be invisible along much of the path but will flare at 5:36 a.m. Credit: Chris Peat / Heavens Above
Don’t forget to watch for flying Orionid meteors tomorrow morning before dawn. This annual shower peaks Sunday Oct. 21 when up to 25 meteors per hour originating from the constellation Orion might be visible from a dark sky site. No moon will mar the view. Head out around 4 a.m. and face south. I encourage you to share your observations in the comment section below.
While you’re out meteor watching, check to see if any of the Iridium satellites are visible from your location. The Iridiums, a group of some 66 satellites orbiting the Earth in a global ‘constellation’ 485 miles high, are used for relaying voice and data communications.
Normally Iridiums are too faint to see except in binoculars, but they have silver-coated Teflon antenna arrays that reflect sunlight like a mirror. When the angle between satellite and observer is right, a brilliant reflection of the sun from the antennas causes an Iridium to suddenly and spectacularly brighten for 5 to 20 seconds. For Duluth, Minn., the city dear to my heart, a -2 magnitude flare (bright as Jupiter) occurs at 5:36 a.m. tomorrow morning just below Orion’s Belt.
Iridium flares start out faint, rapidly brighten to peak light and then quickly fade away. This photo captured Iridium 96 a few years back. Photo: Bob King
Flares range in brightness from equal to the brightest stars all the way up to -8 or about 20 times brighter than Venus. They’re very exciting to see. The new maps at Heavens Above make finding where and when to look a snap. Log in, select your city and then click the Iridium Flares link. You’ll be shown a table of times and brightness. Just click the time to see the map.
The moon will be a thick crescent in the southwestern sky in Sagittarius the Archer tonight. The lunar terminator defines the crescent’s left side. Photo: Bob King
There’s also a chance for a small display of aurora borealis for the northern U.S. tonight through Monday as a high speed stream of solar wind particles buffets Earth’s magnetic field. If auroras show, they’re usually brightest around midnight – 1a.m. Keep an eye out while you’re meteor watching.
And don’t forget the moon, especially if you’re out early this evening.
Binoculars are excellent for bringing out the bigger craters and dark impact basins (lunar seas). Look along the lunar terminator, the arc-shaped border between day and night where shadows are longest and details most clearly defined, for best viewing.
This morning while watching the Orionids from a driveway, I saw a satellite passing Orion’ s right shoulder. It was, in fact, approximately 5:30 or so. Slowly it brightened. However it did NOT streak across as the photo shows here. It literally looked like a stray ember slowly falling from fireworks except as high in the sky as a satellite. I would say the brightness lasted somewhere between 8-10 seconds from my view[location: Rockford, IL area]. As the light faded, it continued on it’s way with the appearance of a satellite.
I knew nothing of these iridiums, but instinctively figured it had to be some kind of reflection due to knowing the Sun was behind my left shoulder preparing to rise within about 80 minutes.
I am very thankful for the information I found here. I was thrilled to see what I saw and knew there would an explanation of this with so many people watching that same spot in the sky along with me. I will be in that same driveway in the morning. I am hoping for another clear clear sky.
Hi Sharla,
You must have seen a flare from another satellite resembling an Iridium flare. There were no listed Iridium flares for Rockford early this morning, however I checked and Rockford will have a nice -1 mag. flare from Iridium 59 at 5:24 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday) morning in the “left foot” of Orion directly across from Rigel. My photo only makes the flare look like it streaked but it’s a time exposure, so the satellite moved slowly – brightening and then fading over about 20 seconds.
We saw it, Bob, right on schedule. Thanks very much.
I’m going to so some research to find out what I saw on the morning of the 20th.
Sharla,
Cool! I think if you did other searches for bright satellites on H-A you’d be able to ID it. Good luck!
hi Bob, I’ve been AWOL from your site for awhile.tuned back in recently. just a comment to say that I saw one of those iridium flares at the Naval Observatory in DC some yrs back. just happened to be part of a tour group when the display occurred. also, another event. happened to be in the kitchen in the early morning on a spring day in 1975. kitchen was filled with a green light for a second. found out later that it was a meteor that passed over the Twin Cities area at that time. quite a display. and I just happened to be there the second it happened.
Green light – wow, that must have been one heck of a fireball!