Re: Iridium 26 pass at Mag -2.6
Björn Gimle (b_gimle@algonet.se)
Sun, 18 Apr 1999 18:37:54 +0200
>
>I've got a skymap generated pass for Iridium 26 at mag -1.5 this eve,
>Usually these are mag 6.0. Is there an error somewhere?
>
Probably not - since version 6.2 flares are predicted
(if your track interval is short enough):
SkyMap can now be used to find Iridium flares. Satellite tracks
for flares brighter than 1st magnitude are plotted in bright
yellow for the portion exceeding magnitude 1.0. SkyMap determines
which Iridium satellites can flare by their 5-digit NORAD
designation. To support future additions to the constellation,
flares are calculated for any satellite that has a name that
begins "Iridium" (upper or lower case), and does not contain a
slash. (This helps distinguish satellites from the boosters
that launched them). The exceptions are Iridium 27, Iridium Sim1
and Iridium Sim2 which all have exclusions based on NORAD #.
(more exceptions added later)