On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Francisco Ocaņa<albireo3000@yahoo.es> wrote: > The first event took place at 21:53 UT the 12th July (23:53 LT) a "normal" > Iridium flare. My surprise was checking at Heavens-Above that the flare > consists of 2 satellites (Iridium 61 and 36) around less than a degree > apart. > http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium.asp?Dur=2&Date=40006.3714101273&lat=40.39995&lng=-3.70237&loc=Paco%40Home&alt=580&tz=CET > > > Could it be or is the prediction mistaken? I didnīt know that 2 Iridiums > could be so close. Iridium 36 failed on station in early 2007, and has since been reported tumbling, so it is unlikely to flare in the normal fashion. The failed satellite is slowly drifting around the orbit with respect to the active satellites, so may so may coincidentally appear to be in the same spot as one of the active satellites. The flare observed was most likely just that from Iridium 61. It is, however, possible to see two Iridium satellites flaring together when one of the spare satellites, which also drift around the orbit with respect to the active satellites, coincides with an active satellite. Under the right conditions, it is also possible to see double flares from an individual Iridium satellite, one from a Main Mission Antenna and another from the solar panel, A combination of both the above can even result in a double-double flare! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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