Head-on Perseid? or wht???

At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm in a
very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb area].
Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star near Alpha
Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely brighter
than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view, perhaps lasting
3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of Iridium
flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid, but
what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement, stellar
appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.
4. Optical illusion? But I saw it with both eyes even after shifting my
gaze to center it.

I've only been observing for 5 years - do I just chalk this on up to
"observer error"? What else could it be?

Thanks.

Jim

"Jim Hewitt" wrote in
:

At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm
in a very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb
area]. Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star
near Alpha Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely
brighter than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view,
perhaps lasting 3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of
Iridium flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid,
but what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement,
stellar appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.

Could have been a flare from a sat in a geostationary or
molniya type orbit.


4. Optical illusion? But I saw it with both eyes even after shifting my
gaze to center it.

I've only been observing for 5 years - do I just chalk this on up to
"observer error"? What else could it be?

Thanks.

Jim

Brian
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Skywise wrote:
"Jim Hewitt" wrote in
:


At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm
in a very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb
area]. Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star
near Alpha Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely
brighter than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view,
perhaps lasting 3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of
Iridium flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid,
but what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement,
stellar appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.

Could have been a flare from a sat in a geostationary or
molniya type orbit.

The first thing I thought about was a geostat, but the position cited
puts it about 20-25 deg higher of where it should have been. So I
think geostationary one is out. Anyway, there is plenty of other junk
up there and it doesn't have to be geostationary to look not moving
for a few seconds - any orbit that is a bit higher will do.

- Alex

At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm in a
very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb area].
Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star near Alpha
Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely brighter
than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view, perhaps lasting
3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of Iridium
flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid, but
what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement, stellar
appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.
4. Optical illusion? But I saw it with both eyes even after shifting my
gaze to center it.

I've only been observing for 5 years - do I just chalk this on up to
"observer error"? What else could it be?

Well, depending on where you see them, Iridium flares can seem to not
move very much in the time that you observe them, although with careful
observation, you can eventually notice their movement. A Molnya orbit
satellite sunglint might also be a possibility, although they are not
extremely bright. I doubt it was a head-on meteor, as they rarely last
for more than a second or two. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David Knisely wrote:
At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm in a
very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb area].
Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star near Alpha
Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely brighter
than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view, perhaps lasting
3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of Iridium
flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid, but
what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement, stellar
appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.
4. Optical illusion? But I saw it with both eyes even after shifting my
gaze to center it.

I've only been observing for 5 years - do I just chalk this on up to
"observer error"? What else could it be?

Well, depending on where you see them, Iridium flares can seem to not
move very much in the time that you observe them, although with careful
observation, you can eventually notice their movement. A Molnya orbit
satellite sunglint might also be a possibility, although they are not
extremely bright. I doubt it was a head-on meteor, as they rarely last
for more than a second or two. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David Knisely wrote:
At a public star party on Saturday night, [Cascade, Idaho] around 11pm in a
very dark site, I was looking nearly straight up at Cygnus [Deneb area].
Just off to the side, I noticed a twinkling or brightening star near Alpha
Cepheus, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees south.

I shifted my gaze to the star and noticed that it was now defintely brighter
than Alpha Cepheus. Then the dang thing dimmmed from view, perhaps lasting
3 or 4 seconds total, and completely disappeared.

Possibilities:
1. Iridium fla but it did NOT move at all. I have seen dozens of Iridium
flares and it did not resemble one.
2. Head-on meteor. It was really too far from Perseus to be a Perseid, but
what are the odds of a directly head on meteor? Zero movement, stellar
appearance.
3. Other satellite: again, it was not moving at all.
4. Optical illusion? But I saw it with both eyes even after shifting my
gaze to center it.

I've only been observing for 5 years - do I just chalk this on up to
"observer error"? What else could it be?

Well, depending on where you see them, Iridium flares can seem to not
move very much in the time that you observe them, although with careful
observation, you can eventually notice their movement. A Molnya orbit
satellite sunglint might also be a possibility, although they are not
extremely bright. I doubt it was a head-on meteor, as they rarely last
for more than a second or two. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 31 - Aug. 5, 2005, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David Knisely wrote:


Well, depending on where you see them, Iridium flares can seem to not
move very much in the time that you observe them, although with careful
observation, you can eventually notice their movement.

You can easily check out for any Iridium flares visible from Cascade
around that time on Heavens-above.com (to go three days back you have to
tweak the date in the link a little) :

http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium...116.041&alt=14
63&loc=Cascade&TZ=MST&Dur=2&Date=38569.8643865741

There was one at 23:55 (I'm not sure if the time zone is correct), but
it was in the wrong direction - west instead of north-east.

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