Multiple Iridium Flares
Ron Lee (ronlee@pcisys.net)
Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:50:56 -0600
At about 2:12 UT on 21 Oct 97, I was observing from northern
Albuquerque NM (USA) trying to show an Iridium flare to a friend.
About a minute before the expected flare time, Iridium 20 flared to
perhaps 3rd magnitude for about 10 seconds. It dimmed then a short
time later flared again. A second dimming then a third flare about
the same brightness. I did not record the exact durations since
I was looking for one good flare but this sounds exactly like what
Leo observed.
Ron Lee
PS. From my location, flares are minimal. Perhaps due to orbital
placement of the Iridiums. We need more up there to observe!
t 11:50 AM 10/22/97 +0200, you wrote:
>This evening I observed double flares from Iridium 15 and 17.
>They were both about mag 5 and S when I picked them up; and brightned to
>mag 3 and 2 for about 20 seconds when they both became even brighter for
>about 5 seconds to mag 1 and 0.
>
>Has somebody any ideas to explain this behavior?
>Leo Barhorst Alkmaar The Netherlands