Saw a cool light in the sky...

[stephenmadpotato]

Hey,
So the other day, I went to Jackson Hole, WY to visit a friend that moved away. We slept on a porch to go star gazing, because it is really clear out there due to the dry air. Unaware of the fact that we were in the middle of a meteor shower. We were amazed when we discovered we were. There were tons of bright lights in the sky and it was really cool. One light stuck out alot more than the others though, we saw a "star" that was moving slowly, we assumed it was a sattelite. But after watching it for a bit, randomly it lit up really bright blue and you could see beams of light in every direction. My theory is that a sattelite connected with the suns rays and that's what caused it. Any other ideas?

 

[BIGIRON]

At that magnitude, probably the Space Station. Here's a link for viewing times, etc.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html

 

[Fizz753]

It might of been a Iridium Flare.

What is a Iridium Flare you ask?

(shameless copy and paste from http://www.heavens-above.com )
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A. An Iridium flare is caused by the sun being reflected from one of the three main mission antennae (MMA) of an Iridium satellite. The MMAs are flat, highly polished aluminium surfaces, and when the angles are just right, they can reflect the sun just like a mirror. There are over 80 of these communications satellites in orbit, and they are operated by the Iridium LLC Consortium.
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I sometimes go out to watch them. Some of them are bright enough they can be seen in broad daylight.

 

[BIGIRON]

Fizz - great site. Thanks.

 

[LED_Thrift]

Yeah, +1
Thanks Fizz753

 

[nightgaunt]

Got to see a Mag -8 (bright!!) Iridium flare on Tues. morning...the best and longest flare I've seen. The Persied showers were also pretty good during the time I was viewing the flare. I guess I got lucky with the frequency and clarity of the meteors, and I was even in the city. 4am doesn't hurt, either.

 

[Dantor]

yeah the Perseids Meteor shower was good this year, I saw some really good ones! even a fire ball