While observing a 20 hour old thin crescent moon, I saw a bright, short, point flash which appeared to last between 1/10 and 1/2 second. It appeared to be 2-3 magnitudes brighter than the brightest portion of the visible arc of the Moon. I was not prepared for this! I did have the sense to mark the time - 23:57:45UT. Thinking back now, it could have been 23:59:45 - I may have misread the digital watch. The Moon was less that 2 degree up and was getting weak in the thickening haze. I made a note of the location of the flash relative to the arc and later determine the flash was in Mare Tranquillitatis most likely near the crater Ross or Plinius. This is a broad estimate since I could not see any lunar features. I lost sight of the arc as it faded away in the muck at 00:02UT still 1.3 degrees up. The Moons position at this time was R.A. 19h 36m Dec. -26d 58m. Does anyone know if any satellite could have been nearby that may have caused a bright flash? There appeared to be no motion in the flash which was very short lived. Thanks in advance, Kenneth Drake -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.11/219 - Release Date: 1/2/06 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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