Ron Lee <ronlee@pcisys.net> said: >Perhaps I missed it but missing from that article was an observation >of monumental/epic importance.....the first sighting of an Iridium >flare caused by moonlight. AS we all know, the driving genius behind >that event was Rob Matson. > >Ron Lee Ah - but my time machine's been on the whack recently. It takes a couple of months from the time an article is completed and the time it appears in print. So there's a bunch of 'as we go to press there are umpteen satellites in orbit' or 'astronomers expect to announce at this month's AAS meeting', etc. etc. You don't want to know how many folks I had to bribe to have the announcement of the agreement between Motorola and Arecibo finalized just as the article came out! When I get my time machine fixed I promise to amend the article and include a mention of the first successful observation of moonlight reflected off of a satellite. BTW - since such an authorotative source as "Sky & Telescope" (who some SeeSat subscribers have been reading since before I was born) considers "flare" to be the accurate term for describing the Iridiums rapidly increasing in brightness, hopefully that should end the "flare" vs. "glint" debates. but - of course, I may be a bit biased when considering the validity of that particular authority. ;-) Philip Chien, KC4YER Earth News world (in)famous writer, science fiction fan, ham radio operator, all-around nice guy, etc.