Brilliant Mir
Bruno Tilgner (Bruno_Tilgner@compuserve.com)
Tue, 21 Oct 1997 07:11:48 -0400
Wim Holwerda wrote:
>On Friday-night Oct. 17 at 18:05 UTC there was an extremely bright pass =
of Mir.
>In the south-west at an elevation of 50 deg. the max. magnitude was abou=
t -4.
A day later, on 18 October at 18:43 UTC, I saw a similar bright flare (th=
at's
what it has to be called, I believe) from my location at 48.85N 2.02E nea=
r
Paris, France. The elevation was about 55 degrees and I would estimate th=
e
magnitude as -4.
The flare lasted for 20 to 25 seconds and caught my attention because it
occurred in the southwest, i.e. at an unfavorable phase angle. After the =
flare
was over, Mir had its usual brightness. Some time later it disappeared in=
to
the Earth's shadow.
The question remains open whether these strong reflections are caused by =
the
solar paddles (which are blue but flat and aligned) or the thermal insula=
tion
of the station modules (which is white and reflective but curved).
Bruno Tilgner
48.85N 2.02E
Bruno_Tilgner@compuserve.com=