Iridium Flare capture

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Ronald Z
Posts: 203
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:01 am

Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by Ronald Z »

hey friends,

captured the flare from antenna of the Iridium Satellite #31 that passed over Rhode Island at 7:19pm
this evening. See the photo attached.

enjoy and clear skies!
Ron :P
Attachments
Flare from the antenna of iridium satellite #31
Flare from the antenna of iridium satellite #31
Iridium Satellite No.31 flare RZP lowres.jpg (126.63 KiB) Viewed 3220 times
ES AR152mm (988mm f6.5) achromatic doublet
TV 85mm (600mm f7) APO doublet
TV 60mm (360mm f6) APO doublet
TV Starbeam
TV 5X & 2.5X Powermates
TV DeLite set
Canon 60Da
Rokinon 10mm f2.8, 14mm f2.8
24mm f1.4, 50mm f1.4, 135mm f2.0
Samyang 85mm f1.4
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AndyG
Network Admin
Posts: 1160
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by AndyG »

Cool shot, Ron. How did you get the timing of when to open the shutter?
Andy
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Ronald Z
Posts: 203
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:01 am

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by Ronald Z »

Thanks Andy!

I knew the flare was predicted to occur at 7:19 pm so I set up my rig about 10 minutes
early and aimed my lens at the region of the sky the satellite was predicted to be. Then,
I watched and noticed the familiar appearance of a satellite and then opened the shutter and
locked it on "Bulb" knowing that it would capture the "flare" event a couple of seconds later.
The whole event was just a few seconds but an extremely bright event.

The only mistake I made was setting my ISO too high (1600) with a gibbous moon out.
I overexposed the flare but I was able to save it because I shot in RAW format.

Ron :P
ES AR152mm (988mm f6.5) achromatic doublet
TV 85mm (600mm f7) APO doublet
TV 60mm (360mm f6) APO doublet
TV Starbeam
TV 5X & 2.5X Powermates
TV DeLite set
Canon 60Da
Rokinon 10mm f2.8, 14mm f2.8
24mm f1.4, 50mm f1.4, 135mm f2.0
Samyang 85mm f1.4
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AndyG
Network Admin
Posts: 1160
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by AndyG »

Got it, thanks.
Andy
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BobSikes
15+ Years Member
Posts: 426
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:57 pm

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by BobSikes »

Nice Ron,

I haven't gone Iridium hunting in a long time. Good idea.

BobS
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WCGucfa
Posts: 1856
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:39 pm

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Beautiful shot Ron!
I haven't seen one this good in a long time!
Which site did you use to get the prediction???

Bill G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Ronald Z
Posts: 203
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:01 am

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by Ronald Z »

Thanks Bill and Bob!

I actually didn't get it from a site although I do subscribe to the spaceweather cell phone alerts.
In this case, I got the information from Scott MacNeill, the frosty drew observatory director. He
writes a weekly blog to members about what is going on both at Frosty Drew and in the Sky. He said
he was going to publish my photo on the frosty drew website here at:

http://www.frostydrew.org

clear skies!
Ron :P
ES AR152mm (988mm f6.5) achromatic doublet
TV 85mm (600mm f7) APO doublet
TV 60mm (360mm f6) APO doublet
TV Starbeam
TV 5X & 2.5X Powermates
TV DeLite set
Canon 60Da
Rokinon 10mm f2.8, 14mm f2.8
24mm f1.4, 50mm f1.4, 135mm f2.0
Samyang 85mm f1.4
User avatar
WCGucfa
Posts: 1856
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:39 pm

Re: Iridium Flare capture

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Very cool, Ron!

Thanks for the link. I'll look for your image!

Bill G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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