>I am pleased to say that --in a few days-- Dana, at the South Pole, is going >to post a bunch of beautiful iridium flare photos he has just obtained! They >will be at his April web page here: http://polar.home.att.net As there seems to be some interest down there for the matter here are my predicitions for bright Iridium flares at the South Pole for the remainder of this dark season. Given are the approximate start and stop times for a mag -8 activity as well as the part of the sky where it happens. There will be bright flares for a few hours before and after the given times also. 10-MAY 5:00 UTC - 12:00 UTC (Corona Australis) 14-MAY 21:40 UTC - 15-MAY 10:00 UTC (Telescopium) 31-MAY 3:30 UTC - 16:40 UTC (border Sagittarius / Telescopium) 14-JUL 0:00 UTC - 15-JUL 0:00 UTC (Grus) 27-AUG 13:30 UTC - 29-AUG 13:00 (Pavo) What I find remarkable is the very uneven distribution of those flares - in particular the 48 hour marathon event from 27-AUG to 29-AUG. All flares are caused by the right rear antenna of the satellites except the events on 10-MAY for which the front antenna is responsible (no difference in appearance on the ground though). Gerhard HOLTKAMP Darmstadt, Germany ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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