Iridium flare
My Utata Speaks 2008 contribution.
I started a roll of film last month and finally had it developed this week when I finished it off during the Perseid meteor shower this week. This Fuji PRO800 isn't that great for astrophotography. Now that I have the AstroTrac I can expose a bit longer with Sensia 400 and Provia 400.
This is an Iridium flare from July 5.
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The stars for most of us appear as fixed points of light in a vast dome above us. Its patterns seemingly unchanged for generations. Apart from the wandering stars, or planets, we see them as they are night to night, year to year. Their placement relative to us only changes because the Earth rotates around an axis like a spinning top.
But almost every night one may see something spectacular. These stars are man-made, hurled into space by giant fire sticks we lovingly call rockets. They are satellites. Circling the earth they quietly go about doing a singular job. Many are small and with a keen eye you might see one grazing across the stars.
Then there are the Iridiums, a vast array of communications satellites with large solar wings. Predictably, they seem to appear from the shadows and then flare in brightness from obscurity to the splendor of Venus or sometimes the crescent moon. And then just as quickly they fade into the Earth’s shadow. The spectacle lasts a mere half minute.
Iridium flare
My Utata Speaks 2008 contribution.
I started a roll of film last month and finally had it developed this week when I finished it off during the Perseid meteor shower this week. This Fuji PRO800 isn't that great for astrophotography. Now that I have the AstroTrac I can expose a bit longer with Sensia 400 and Provia 400.
This is an Iridium flare from July 5.
---
The stars for most of us appear as fixed points of light in a vast dome above us. Its patterns seemingly unchanged for generations. Apart from the wandering stars, or planets, we see them as they are night to night, year to year. Their placement relative to us only changes because the Earth rotates around an axis like a spinning top.
But almost every night one may see something spectacular. These stars are man-made, hurled into space by giant fire sticks we lovingly call rockets. They are satellites. Circling the earth they quietly go about doing a singular job. Many are small and with a keen eye you might see one grazing across the stars.
Then there are the Iridiums, a vast array of communications satellites with large solar wings. Predictably, they seem to appear from the shadows and then flare in brightness from obscurity to the splendor of Venus or sometimes the crescent moon. And then just as quickly they fade into the Earth’s shadow. The spectacle lasts a mere half minute.