Bright Iridium flare visible in Reykjavik tomorrow night
An Iridium flare is seen here in the upper part of the photograph, to the left of the Northern Lights. Photo/Arnar Bergur Guðjónsson
The current weather conditions - cold and clear- make the next couple of days perfect for gazing up at the sky. Tonight, watch out for a cosmic triangle of the moon, Mars and Venus, and tomorrow night you might see a bright Iridium flare.
"When the conjunction between you, a satellite and the sun makes the satellited work like a mirror reflecting a lot of sunlight to earth in an instance you see a flare in the sky," explains Icelandic astronomy expert Sævar Helgi Bragason to mbl.is. An Iridium flare will be visible tomorrow night in Reykjavik. It's a specific type of satellite flare made when the antennas of an Iridium communication satellite reflect sunlight directly onto the surface of the Earth. Often, people think that these flares are UFO sightings and Bragason has received many such phonecalls. He says that it's possible to see quite accurately when and where a flare will be visible, for example on webpage Heavens-above.com.
Tomorrow night a very bright Iridium flare will be seen from Reykjavik. "It will be brighter than Venus and visible at around 21:22."
He also points out that stargazing conditions will be excellent tonight and tomorrow night and Northern Lights are also likely. The forecast is for cold, clear weather for the rest of the week.
"Anyone interesting in stargazing can meet up in front of the University of Iceland on Friday night at 8 pm."
Bragason says that tonight and tomorrow night a cosmic triangle of the moon, Venus and Mars will be clearly visible.
