Iridium aging?

From: Allen Thomson (thomsona@flash.net)
Date: Thu May 17 2007 - 22:42:56 EDT

  • Next message: Ted Molczan: "OE Astro observed with Nextsat"

    We just admired a bright flare from Iridium 25 as it passed over our
    position (29.548 N, 98.558 W) at 02:09:55 UT 2007-05-18. To my eye, it
    seemed more orange and had a longer fading tail than other Iridium
    flares I've seen. (I didn't catch the rising part.)
    
    The satellite has now been in orbit almost ten years, and I wonder if
    there isn't an aging effect that might account for the differences. 
    
    Have other observers seen such things, and do they correlate with
    satellite age? Or was this just a random event, perhaps due to
    pecularities of solar illumination?
    
    
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