Have you seen an Iridium flare?

Question

An iridium flare is the result of the sun shining on the solar panels on one of the iridium satellites. It's brighter than Jupiter. There's always 2 or 3 each night. They last about 10 seconds, then they're gone.

Answer 1

I've seen several of them.  I like to freak other people out by saying I have magical powers and then say, "Watch this!"  Then I point to the part of the sky and do some mumbo jumbo.  Timing is critical.  I had a couple of Pizza Hut waitresses going on that one once.  Being an honest person though, I 'fessed up after a couple of minutes.

It's possible to predict them exactly if you get perfect coordinates.  The Heavens Above site has all the info.

Most of the ones I've seen don't last more than about three seconds.  Some are very bright.

Answer 2

I haven't seen one, but it sounds interesting.  Thanks for mentioning it.  :-)  

PS - you might want to let the UFO crowd know about this

Answer 3

I've seen a good many Iridium flares, a few of which were so bright they shone as brightly as the first quarter moon. It's not the solar panels that cause Iridium flares, it's their door sized antennae arrays. Apparently, they are especially effective at reflecting sunlight to the Earth below.

Answer 4

Yes, I've seen lots of them. To piggyback on Brant's answer, a friend of mine likes to find out the time and location in advance. Then, when he's showing the skies to, say, a group of Boy Scouts, he can casually mention supernovae and how they can appear at any time, like NOW...at which point he points to the area where he knows the Iridium flare will appear!

Answer 5

Yes, several times. Yawn.

Answer 6

Used to watch 'em all the time...now, I still enjoy seeing one every now and again when there's one going to be especially bright.

go to heavens-above.com...you'll need to sign up (it's free) and take a minute to select the city that you are observing from-- at least one near you, so the predictions will be accurate.   That website will predict iridiums, the HST, the ISS, and literally 1,000's of other satellites very accurately.