Possible Supernova in Messier 80

a reply to: intrptr

That crossed my mind as well however I could not see the object before or after the event and it wasn't moving in any direction. Not to say it wasn't an iridium flare, could have very well been.

a reply to: OneGoal

Nice.

Have you heard of heavens above? You can use it to find out when satellites pass over, pretty sure you can look up previous satellite passovers too.

4:35am would be a time ripe for satellites

originally posted by: OneGoal
a reply to: intrptr

That crossed my mind as well however I could not see the object before or after the event and it wasn't moving in any direction. Not to say it wasn't an iridium flare, could have very well been.

Objects in earth orbit are only visible when lit by the sun. A glint off one may not leave a trail. You observed this as a quote, "flash" lasting two tenths of a second? Thats about right.

Supernovae, on the other hand are quite rare, usual occurring in other far away galaxies, invisible to the naked eye, peak brightness lasting for hours.

Keep looking up! Thats how we spot stuff.

originally posted by: intrptr

originally posted by: OneGoal
a reply to: intrptr

That crossed my mind as well however I could not see the object before or after the event and it wasn't moving in any direction. Not to say it wasn't an iridium flare, could have very well been.

Objects in earth orbit are only visible when lit by the sun. A glint off one may not leave a trail. You observed this as a quote, "flash" lasting two tenths of a second? Thats about right.

Supernovae, on the other hand are quite rare, usual occurring in other far away galaxies, invisible to the naked eye, peak brightness lasting for hours.

Keep looking up! Thats how we spot stuff.

Absolutely true. It does sound like the duration of the light could definitely indicate a brief illumination of reflective paneling such as solar panels as you mentioned.

Chadwickus I'm checking heavens above to see what I can find.

a reply to: OneGoal

Here's one predicted iridium flare for today's date. The location and time don't match what I saw.


www.heavens-above.com...


I found this interesting as well. satellite path of a satellite by NK:
www.heavens-above.com...

Cool thread OP ! we have recently moved where there are no lights at night and plenty of stars to watch. I find these threads really interesting. I love reading about this stuff ! ...I have no input on what you saw, but am enjoying reading the posts ! .

a reply to: Meldionne1

Glad to share! I too find sky phenomenon amazing and inspiring.

originally posted by: Saint Exupery

originally posted by: OneGoal

originally posted by: Saint Exupery
a reply to: OneGoal
How long did the "flash" last?
Did you see it through a telescope, binoculars or naked eye?

Naked eye. It was about 2 or 3 tenths of a second. It peaked in brightness before disappearing at a magnitude even greater than Venus at her best.

Thanks. Definitely not a supernova. My guess would be a meteor trail seen end-on - i.e. it was coming right at you!

Agreed. That's the most likely explanation. I actually saw the same thing during the Perseids last year. I saw quite a few lovely bright meteors and then I saw a flash. I knew what it was, one coming in my general direction. The funny thing is for a half second, I hesitated about what to do and tried to "dodge" it. I realised how ridiculous what I was doing was very quickly but not, I imagine as quickly as the meteor would have hot me HAD it been coming straight at me. Funny.

But back on topic, a supernova lingers for weeks in the sky..so its very unlikely to have been that.

originally posted by: 3danimator2014

originally posted by: Saint Exupery

originally posted by: OneGoal

originally posted by: Saint Exupery
a reply to: OneGoal
How long did the "flash" last?
Did you see it through a telescope, binoculars or naked eye?

Naked eye. It was about 2 or 3 tenths of a second. It peaked in brightness before disappearing at a magnitude even greater than Venus at her best.

Thanks. Definitely not a supernova. My guess would be a meteor trail seen end-on - i.e. it was coming right at you!

Agreed. That's the most likely explanation. I actually saw the same thing during the Perseids last year. I saw quite a few lovely bright meteors and then I saw a flash. I knew what it was, one coming in my general direction. The funny thing is for a half second, I hesitated about what to do and tried to "dodge" it. I realised how ridiculous what I was doing was very quickly but not, I imagine as quickly as the meteor would have hot me HAD it been coming straight at me. Funny.

But back on topic, a supernova lingers for weeks in the sky..so its very unlikely to have been that.

Oh man I can only imagine what that must have felt like to believe a meteor was about to hit ya head on. Must have given quite a thrilling scare.

I did some searching and found an article about a meteor that was seen over the middle of the United States last night. The time doesn't match up, but does indicate we could have been passing through a chunk of debris.

As you mentioned, seems most likely that the flash I saw was indeed a meteor seen head on entering the atmosphere. Never seen anything like it. It literally looked as bright as a high powered camera flash at say 3000 feet altitude. Also, in those few tenths of a second the light grew to about 30% the diameter of the Moon. Combined with the luminosity it almost sent me reeling for a moment.