Debris query

JRS: In article , seen in
news:uk.sci.astronomy, AoT posted at
Sat, 12 Jul 2003 11:16:53 :-
At about 2340? yesterday, there was a very large and bright flash in the sky
to the West, at about 40 degrees elevation; having binoculars handy, I was
able to see that whatever burnt up left an object, glowing faintly and
orange, which sped off to the North East. If I could see it, does that mean
that there is a sizable lump on its way down? Or should it have landed
already?

Not a very useful report, since it does not give your location. Since
you are presumably in the UK, that puts the position as somewhere above
UK, our territorial waters, or much of Eire, given the height you imply.

However, it sounds much like an Iridium Flare - two bright ones were
visible within about 30 miles of here at about that time - sunlight
reflecting off solar panels of satellites, height a few hundred miles?.
Had you been looking earlier, you should have seen it getting brighter.

See via http://www.heavens-above.com/ for predictions; I think it will
do past flares. You will need to know your latitude & longitude in
decimal degrees; to a tenth will do, to a hundredth much better. It
also predicts the ISS and many other satellites.

If the event that you saw had been within the atmosphere, the debris, if
any, would have landed within a few minutes - apart from the extremely
rare case of aero-capture from hyperbolic to elliptical orbit, in which
case it might come down at almost any time after 90 minutes, almost
anywhere.


Stephen - perhaps FAQ section O should have a bit on classification and
identification of sightings? The possibilities include meteors,
satellites (steady/flares), departures from LEO, comets, planets, and
Objects Fixed to the Heavenly Sphere. The answers might be a line of
description (in some cases) and a link to a specialist site. OFHS might
include a star-chart link and a nova/variable link. Some links can be
taken from via below, but there must be other sources.

--
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Dr John Stockton wrote:
Stephen - perhaps FAQ section O should have a bit on classification and
identification of sightings?

If anyone wishes to write this bit, please email me.

Best,
Stephen

--
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+ Stephen Tonkin | ATM Resources; Astro-Tutorials; Astro Books +
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Dr John Stockton wrote:
Stephen - perhaps FAQ section O should have a bit on classification and
identification of sightings?

If anyone wishes to write this bit, please email me.

Best,
Stephen

--
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ Stephen Tonkin | ATM Resources; Astro-Tutorials; Astro Books +
+ (N51.162 E0.995) | http://www.astunit.com +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

"Dr John Stockton" wrote in message " it sounds much like an Iridium
Flare..."

Thank you for your comments; from the web-site given, the event would appear
to have been Iridium 94.
Fom another site, I have learnt what an iridium flare is.
I am sorry for putting my query so clumsily, thanks again,

Anthony Thomas

"Dr John Stockton" wrote in message " it sounds much like an Iridium
Flare..."

Thank you for your comments; from the web-site given, the event would appear
to have been Iridium 94.
Fom another site, I have learnt what an iridium flare is.
I am sorry for putting my query so clumsily, thanks again,

Anthony Thomas

JRS: In article , seen in
news:uk.sci.astronomy, Stephen Tonkin posted at
Sun, 13 Jul 2003 05:47:30 :-
Dr John Stockton wrote:
Stephen - perhaps FAQ section O should have a bit on classification and
identification of sightings?

If anyone wishes to write this bit, please email me.

1)
See URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/astro2.htm#CVS for a rough
version of the sort of information I had in mind.

2)
FAQ B.1 BAA link says it's now http://www.britastro.org/main/index.html

--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v4.00 MIME. ©
Web URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links;
some Astro stuff via astro.htm, gravity0.htm; quotes.htm; pascal.htm; &c, &c.
No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News.

JRS: In article , seen in
news:uk.sci.astronomy, Stephen Tonkin posted at
Sun, 13 Jul 2003 05:47:30 :-
Dr John Stockton wrote:
Stephen - perhaps FAQ section O should have a bit on classification and
identification of sightings?

If anyone wishes to write this bit, please email me.

1)
See URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/astro2.htm#CVS for a rough
version of the sort of information I had in mind.

2)
FAQ B.1 BAA link says it's now http://www.britastro.org/main/index.html

--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v4.00 MIME. ©
Web URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links;
some Astro stuff via astro.htm, gravity0.htm; quotes.htm; pascal.htm; &c, &c.
No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News.