Talpa Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 Was just coming on here to see if anyone else had seen what I just saw and I think it was maybe one of these... over the sea near Sandwick/ Levenwick at about 22.55/ 23.00. Was driving at the time and saw it from the road at Channerwick. Brilliantly coloured and pulsating green. Like a shooting star but bigger. Pulsated several times, falling towards sea then disappeared.....BEAUTIFUL! Iridium flare? War of The Worlds??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyumpi Posted May 22, 2008 Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 ^^^ Didn't see that Talpa, but I did see the Iridium flare just a few minutes ago. I almost missed it as my attention was taken by a fairly bright object, low in the southern sky, that tracked from west to east for a good minute, straddling the appearance of the flare. Cheers Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2008 ^^^ Didn't see that Talpa, but I did see the Iridium flare just a few minutes ago. I almost missed it as my attention was taken by a fairly bright object, low in the southern sky, that tracked from west to east for a good minute, straddling the appearance of the flare. Cheers Colin Didn't see Talpa's one either but the flare coincided with an appearance of the International Space Station. Got a good view of both but WHY DO THE FLOODLIGHTS AROUND SCALLOWAY SCHOOL & POOL HAVE TO BE ON SO LATE......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talpa Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Hmmm, what I saw was in eastern sky - quite low. Sounds like the iridium flares were in the west? Have had a look on Heavens Above and as I understand you wouldn't see it in the east? Correct if I'm wrong... Used to be really into astronomy etc but am a bit rusty! Also checked the NASA site for ISS.... but the applet for sightings seems ' to be 'next sightings' and I can't find data for last night, will keep checking. Does sound like good explanation though, thanks... Whatever it was it was very, very bright and most impressive sky object I've seen. As I say like big shooting star, it had a tail, but was pulsating pale green around the star part, not seen that before - very clear but pretty strange! Anyone else see it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 I wonder if it could have been a shooting star made up of a lot of copper and magnesium. I remember seeing a shooting star (it wasn't green though) several years ago that was so bright that it cast our shadows on the ground. There was a few sightings of these green things a few years back (I really don't know why I kept the newspaper clipping from 9 years ago but I did). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Hmmm, what I saw was in eastern sky - quite low. Sounds like the iridium flares were in the west? Have had a look on Heavens Above and as I understand you wouldn't see it in the east? Correct if I'm wrong... Ok.. You're wrong If you register with the heavens-above web site, you will be able to enter your exact location. From this, the site will be able to tell you what path the flares take relative to you. The flares are visible over quite a wide are although the brightest part of the track is quite narrow. Last night's -8 flare was brightest 2km East of Scalloway and would have been almost as bright from Lerwick or other locations on the east side. If you use the site, do not confuse the flare path with the satellite path. Check the azimuth reading. Anything less that 180deg is East of you, greater than 180deg is West of you. The Alt reading is the position in the sky of maximum flare intensity. Don't forget that we are at 60deg North so, if a flare is brightest at 60deg, it will be directly overhead. ISS passes are also available from the heavens-above site. Last nights was there but I didn't bother to check until after I had seen it other wise I would have given a heads-up. The ISS is visible again tonight (weather permitting) at around 23:57 to 23:59. again crossing the sky from the SW to the SE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talpa Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Thanks Colin. Very helpful - will start looking for next ones. From Levenwick there was the following for last night: Iridium Flares: 22 May 23:37:37 -8 42° 268° (W ) 2.0 km (W) ISS: 22 May -0.5 23:35:32 10 SSW 23:37:06 14 SSE 23:38:39 10 SE And nothing detailed for several hours before. Time was definately (22.55/ 23.00 - I pulled in a couple of miles up the road and it was 23.04). Maybe shooting star but just a bit too bright, too big and too green - I think. Visable for good few seconds, time to 'pulsate' several times. Was a very light night too. Will look for next flare and see if it looks anything like what I saw....but guess times don't add up?! Thanks for suggestions etc. though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 If it's of any use as a reference point Talpa, brightest shooting star i have ever seen was green and breathtakingly bright. In that instance it went from above to the western horizon, disappearing just before it got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Maybe shooting star but just a bit too bright, too big and too green - I think. Visable for good few seconds, time to 'pulsate' several times. Was a very light night too. The shooting star (meteorite) I saw lasted a good few seconds and pulsated before it burned out. It just means that it was larger than most fragments that enter Earth's atmosphere so it took longer to burn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Maybe shooting star but just a bit too bright, too big and too green - I think. Visable for good few seconds, time to 'pulsate' several times. Was a very light night too. Lots of stuff falls out of the sky every day. Most of it unnoticed as people don't spend much time looking up, it's to faint to see or gets blocked by bad lighting. What you described seeing could have been anything really. A bright meteorite, a decaying satellite, an empty crisp packet thrown over the side of the ISS As for it being very bright, that is a function of it's size/speed and it really doesn't have to be 'big' to be spectacular. Something the size of a pebble can be awesome. Iridium satellites aways appear to move S/N or N/S as they are in polar orbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talpa Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 Cool - will go for a particuarly splendid shooting star then....But with a bit of reservation, had a hint of the man-made somehow and just-not-quite-exactly a shooting star to me, maybe because it was against the late-blue rather than a black sky. Maybe a crisp bag indeed... Sky 'Walkers' perhaps??!!! ho ho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Maybe a crisp bag indeed... Sky 'Walkers' perhaps??!!! ho ho... Might not have been a crisp packet after all http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/7425180.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie_Anxious Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 The Perseids Meteor Shower peaks on the 12 August.. Best viewed into the early hours of the morning!!! Have seen a good few meteors over the last few days... So weather permitting hopefully a good shower this year!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie_Anxious Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Did anybody see any? If so, how many? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 POSSIBLE PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: This year's Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual. According to NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, a filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth's path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 - 2 am PDT) on August 12th, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.