First, a little off topic but I gotta tell somebody who appreciates these things: - Anyone in the lower South Island of NZ living in a rural area would be able to confirm the incredible sight we had of Aurora Australis - Southern Lights on the evening of Saturday March 31. Bright blues, greens, reds and pinks. Motion was slow so it didn't appear "wavy" but observed at different times there were distinct colour shifts and even a really bright red towards the SSW at about 10:30 - 11:00 pm (local time). Coloured the sky through from SSE to SW and up to about 45 deg alt. Incredible sight and one well worth remembering, (only the second time in my lifetime). Apparently we'll be able to see it for the next few days - can't wait for another clear night to show the kids! - Makes you feel kinda small! While watching the above I observed 2 distinct "flashes" of resonably high magnitude, (-5?), bright white, and another two much more faint in the background. I thought I had seen my first Iridium Flare, (and knew what it was), but Heavens-above has no predictions for my location, (listed below), on this night. I might have missed some earlier flashes since I noticed it as soon as I went outside. Sightings were - Due South, Alt about 60 deg. Flashes lasted about 1-2 seconds and about 8 sec apart. With only two flashes it was difficult to tell direction of movement but I think it was due South or SSW. Second flash was about 5 deg lower than first and both very bright, (seen above the aurora). I did not record the time accurately but put it about 9:30 pm local time. Second object was much fainter and appeared to be travelling SSW to east. Also appeared to be much smaller giving the impression it was much further "out" into space. Two flashes were also observed. A guess at mag would be a very faint star and more "yellow" in colour. Anyone have any ideas? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Location - Kirwee, Canterbury, New Zealand Lat 43.5000 S Lon 172.2170 E Elev 150m GMT -12:00 Steve Adams Work Ph: +64 3 338 9059 Fax: +64 3 338 0445 DDI: +64 3 339 1623 VPN: 8523 Mobile: +64 25 370 467 VPN: 6219 E-mail: steve.adams@pdl.co.nz The contents of this E-mail may contain information that is legally privileged and/or confidential to the named recipient. This information is not to be used by any other person and/or organisation. The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the company. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 01 2001 - 14:55:47 PDT