Hi Chuck I don't think it was a head on meteor, the pulse was quick and white and BRIGHT. Having never seen a satellite reflection, never thought of that as the event but I think it probably is the best explanation. I just love this stuff ......... Aloha Rob PS I'll be uploading a photo (B+W) of the Hale 200" from 1979, a photo of the solar telescope at the Haleakala/Mees Solar Observatory and the U.Wisc. Gamma Ray Telescope that was on Haleakala, in the next few days

I guess Iridium satellites are not geo-synchronous or they'd be concentrated near the equator no matter what your earthly viewpoint. If that is the case, they can appear in polar sky regions even if not in a polar orbit, if the orbit is low enough in altitude and the inclination takes it to latitudes higher (or lower, if south of the equator) than the viewer. C. --- John and Lisa Zeigler <john@johnstelescopes.com> wrote:

I saw an iridium flare at the ALCON 2002 Convention out on antelope island. It was just below Cassiopeia, so I think they would have to have some in the polar regions as that is where it started and from there headed south. Iridium flares look like a slow "falling star" with about twice to three times the luminosity and last a lot longer. They are really cool to see if you ever get the chance.

Lisa Zeigler

-----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 3:23 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Daytime meteor trains

Rob's sighting does sound like a satellite flare, or a point meteor (one headed directly at the observer), but the location doesn't sound right for an Iridium satellite...they aren't in polar orbits, are they?

In my case, I didn't see a flash of light, it was mid-afternoon. All I saw was a short contrail magically appear, much faster than a jet could have left it. Like a streak in a cloud chamber magnified millions of times.

C.

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Chuck Hards wrote:

I guess Iridium satellites are not geo-synchronous or they'd be concentrated near the equator no matter what your earthly viewpoint.

Right you are. They are in near polar orbits (about 86 degree inclination) so they can show up most any place in the sky, day or night. Patrick

Rob, any chance it was a cosmic-ray strike on your retina? No kidding, this can happen, even on the surface (not just in orbit above the atmosphere). I've had it happen at least twice that I can recall with certainty. It appears just as you describe. Where you are looking at the time can determine how nuts you go trying to figure out what you saw. If looking at the sky, we try and think of something "out there" to explain it. It's more obvious when it happens indoors and you know there is no other explanation. I can't say for sure that cosmic rays are directly responsible, it could be due to secondary particles from the air shower. If this is really what happens, then we can truthfully be called low-resolution, organic gamma ray telescopes ;) --- Rob Ratkowski <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:

What I saw Saturday was a bright point of light, no variation in color or luminosity and lasting less than 1/3 sec. At first I thought it was a plane but there was only a single flash that I SAW (there may have been a couple??) and I did look for more. Nada! So I do suppose that it was a glint off a satellite, I looked at Heavens Above but there was nothing that was noted that it could have been.

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Hi Chuck WELL anything is possible, but this seemed to be distant and not internal. I have experienced flashes in the dark (inside and in bed as a kid) and this was not one of those, but I can't say for sure, again anything is possible. I just get a kick out of the odd stuff that happens during the day/life. I'm not going to frett over this, it was just one of those things that I saw and it was cool. I did scan a bunch of slides today and now I have to clean them up and then size for the web. work never stops ......... Aloha Rob