Mysterious object

[Dan Minge]

My nephew in the UK sent me this. Any comments appreciated:

Minge

Got up at 3.30 to see what was going on. Had three clear sightings of
shooting stars (good examples). Saw something a bit strange too. There
was a satellite moving in a typical straight line across the sky, then
behind it there was a bright flash. It seemed to be distance behind
the satellite but following the same course. the flash was much
brighter than the satellite (brilliant White). It illuminated and
dimmed out over the duration of two or three seconds. Thought it might
have been something rotating that reflected sunlight for a short
while. Bit of a mystery really.

[Dan Birchall]

On 2009-08-12 22:12 , in article nji785dj4ll2a5i79...@4ax.com,
"Dan Minge" <Daniel...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> a satellite moving in a typical straight line across the sky, then
> behind it there was a bright flash. It seemed to be distance behind
> the satellite but following the same course. the flash was much
> brighter than the satellite (brilliant White). It illuminated and
> dimmed out over the duration of two or three seconds. Thought it might
> have been something rotating that reflected sunlight for a short
> while. Bit of a mystery really.

Pretty good guess there at the end. A few possibilities:

1. If the flash was only once, not repeated - Iridium flare.
2. If the flash repeated - tumbling satellite with solar panels, or less
liekly, a tumbling booster stage (shouldn't be as bright).

-Dan

--
Dan Birchall, Night Operation Assistant, Subaru Telescope, NAOJ
Views I express are my own and may not reflect those of my employer.