View Single Post
  #7  
Old October 27th 11, 04:26 AM posted to sci.astro.satellites.visual-observe
Skywise
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 318
Default Same satelite twice???

(DougD) wrote in :

In article , Me wrote:
The change in brightness could
be from all sorts of reasons, the first that comes to mind is even
though it was only 15 minutes of difference, your location relative
to the Sun, which is what is illuminating the object that you are
seeing have changed over that amount of time.

Or perhaps even more likely, the second piece was smaller than the
first?


out of curiosity, could it be two totally unrelated satellites, on two
different orbits?

Jean


Yes, I've seen an Iridium and another satellite appear to travel on the
same path a few minutes apart. I went back and looked at the actual
orbits using Starry Night, etc. and they really weren't even that close
in orbit, but the eye and brain fill in the blanks in different ways to
make them appear close. Whether they would both flare would be a bit
unusual, unless they were both Iridiums,


What about a spare Iridium? Are there not spares in the same
orbital plane, just at a slightly different altitude? I seem
to recall hearing of 'double flares' caused by an operational
sat and a spare following/preceding.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?