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PigpenMcKernan t1_j3s7oog wrote

Reply to comment by Competitive-Ad-5153 in Saw a weird light last night by citrus_mystic

Spotting the ISS is pretty cool. Though one night while looking for it I saw a Starlink constellation, now that was cool.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3s8evs wrote

That must've been awesome!! I had several people contact me when they saw one of the Starlink trains back in the fall... and I MISSED IT!!

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Did you ever catch an Iridium flare? Now THOSE were amazing!

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PigpenMcKernan t1_j3sfbq7 wrote

I have not, but they do sound cool!

It was neat. First thought honestly was aliens. Then I remembered Starlink was a chain of small satellites, looked up the locations and sure enough one had just gone overhead.

Fun story about iridium, I once sailed to Bermuda with someone who worked on the project for Motorola. They chose the name iridium because initial plans were for 77 satellites in the constellation. But at least one launch failed and others might not have worked so really it should be called osmium or rhenium.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3t75zh wrote

That's RIGHT!! It's a shame that they have been allowed to have their orbits disintegrate, but they're really not needed any more. They could produce a flare so bright it would cost your shadow!

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