I have just observed a very bright pass of the ISS with possible flaring at culmination before shadow entry. The ISS was clearly visible even through passing clouds and just at culmination in a relatively clear patch it was extremely bright. Calsky had its maximum magnitude at -3.4 but I consider the ISS was much brighter at culmination, it had the appearance of flaring and even seemed as bright as -6, comparable with the best Iridium flares. Exact timing was not taken though predicted timing of culmination was 07:07:35 UTC - and no chance of determining exact position when nothing else could be clearly picked up in that area of sky! Some compensation for the mixed weather we have had lately, hopefully as the present cold front clears the area we may be in for clear skies. As we have some good passes to come in the next few day I may get more chances to compare magnitudes with those predicted. Robert in a very chilly Wainuiomata New Zealand 174.948E 41.261S ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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