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Suddenly a bright star appeared in Aquila
Hello all, Last night when I was getting the mag. for eta Aquila a bright star suddenly appeared to the SE of Altair at about 00:15 local time in Spain. (22:15 UT) I called the President of my astronomy club and he said it could have been a meteor falling directly towards me. It did not appear to move. Or it could have been an Iridium flare. Did anyone else see it???? Lori
Hi Lori, You can check for possible Iridium flares for your location around the right time and position in the sky here http://www.heavens-above.com Iridium satellites move significantly in the time they take to flare, though it might not be obvious unless you watch them relative to a nearby fixedstar. Robin
Thank you for the wonderful site. According to this site what I saw was not an Iridium flare. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Well the other idea of a point meteor (one seen head on) is certainly a possibility. There are plenty about in August but if it is from a known shower then since it was seen head on it would have been seen at the position of the radiant (the point where the meteors in a particular shower appear to radiate from) Here is a list of showers with radiants and dates http://www.popastro.com/sections/meteor/showers.htm Iguess it might have been an alpha Capricornid, the Antihelion radiant is close by too, but the odd meteor can come from pretty well any direction. Robin
Lori, Ididn't see it last night but will look for it tonight! Maurice
Thanks those links are very helpful. Looks like mankind has got almost everything under control eh! Lori I suppose as you say it could have been a capricornid point meteor. It was sooooo bright! Lori
I suppose it was the reflection from a satellite.