Clouds moved away just in time yesterday evening, and the first Iridium I tried (97- 30 C = 24838) started brightened till mag -5 ! A magnificent sight. 97- 30 C 97-09-05 20:22:47.3 KJ flare to mag -5 Sat Sat Sun Flare Obs Sun Phase NORAD # UT Dir AZ EL AZ EL Dur Mag 20:22:47 09/05/97 S 077 46 ? ? 10 -5 KJ 50 24838 max EL was 46 Evolution of the magnitude : 20:22:30.3 mag +2 20:22:47.3 mag -5 20:22:58.4 mag +3 97- 30 D = 24839 came over 10 minutes later in an analog orbit, but with a maximum EL of 55. It brightened only to mag +3 near its max EL. Seems that the condition for negative flare are rather strict. observing place was : 51.2344 N, 4.2656 E, O m ASL Some other observations : 78- 18 B 97-09-05 21:56 KJ 195.3 0.1 62 3.150 UME 2, nice sharp flashes 87- 49 B 97-09-05 21:33 KJ 103.8 2.0 6 17.3 AA, mag+4->inv 92- 12 B 97-09-05 21:47 KJ 228.6 0.2 34 6.72 93- 61 A 97-09-05 22:11 KJ 74.6 0.2 8 9.32 F'fffF', prim dm at end SPOT, four flashes during one period, primary flash brightest, becoming brighter during pass, double primary maxima at the end (two sharp flashes after each other). 95- 32 B 97-09-05 21:41 KJ 298.8 5.0 3 100 N? 96- 4 B 97-09-05 22:05 KJ 211.3 1.5 4 52.8 97- 30 A 97-09-05 21:09 KJ mag max +4 97- 30 B 97-09-05 20:48:17.4 KJ mag max +4 97- 30 C 97-09-05 20:22:47.3 KJ flare to mag -5 97- 30 D 97-09-05 20:31:26 KJ brightening to mag +3 97- 30 F 97-09-05 21:17 KJ S, mag +6.5 Happy observing, Kurt J