Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Iridium Flare Gallery

Iridium satellites' sole purpose is to assist in global communications (digitized phone calls, wireless electronic mail etc) and number 66 in total now that current orbiting plans are complete where eleven satellites have been allocated to six equally-spaced orbital planes covering the entire surface of our planet (original plans called for eleven satellites across seven orbital planes and, hence, for the name Iridium which represents the 77th element of the periodic table). These satellites are placed in low-earth orbit and completely circle our planet every 100 minutes (or 14.34 times/day).

Iridium flares represent the unique occurrence in space and time where the panels of the satellite perfectly redirect the solar or lunar light onto an observer on the planet's surface. Aside from the silhouette images that one can capture during a solar transit, Iridium flares represent the only other means by which a ground-based observer can detect or observe a satellite during the day. With a peak magnitude of about -8.4, these flares can easily compete with a well-developed crescent moon during darkness and can be quite visible during the day as well.


Image Details
Iridium 45 @ mag -8.1
Imaging Details
USSPACECOM Cat No:
25104

Satellite:
Iridium 45

Orbit:
776 x 779 km, 86.4°

Range (Photo):
1031 km

Mag:
-8.1

Mag at Flare Center:
-8.1

Dist from Flare Peak:
0.5 km west

Azimuth (Pass):
133°

Altitude (Pass):
48°

Launch Date (UTC):
December 20, 1997
Date:
Oct 05, 2001
20:43 UT+3


Location:
Athens, Greece

Equipment:
Argus Cosina STL 1000
Cosinon 55 mm @ f/2.8
FUJI Superia 400


Exposure:
40-sec

Software:
Photoshop V6

Processing:
JPG Compression


Copyright © 2001-2005, Anthony Ayiomamitis. All rights reserved.