Flashes in the Sky = Supernovas?

[ihwip]

OK so tonight I was gazing up at the stars and saw 2 individual flashes in the sky. For a split second it looked like there was a really bright star and then it disappeared. I saw 2 instances within about 5 minutes of eachother in different parts of the sky.<br /><br />Was I hallucinating, seeing supernovas or is there a more logical explanation? I can't think of anything else that could have caused it, I ruled out meteors because there was no streaking involved.

 

[vogon13]

Iridium flash.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[mkofron]

Cameras from a Vogon scout craft.

 

[yevaud]

The scientist watching us through the 100,000,000,000,000 light-year wide microscope blinked twice. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Sounds like either an Iridium flash or a meteor coming directly at you. Since you saw two lights, it could even be both. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[rfoshaug]

What is an Iridium flash? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

It's a reflection off of the antenna of an Iridium satellite. The Iridium satellites are a "constellation" of low-earth orbit communications satellites designed to support a network of hand-held satellite telephones. The story of the Iridium network is a subject all on its own; it's practically the story of the dot-com/telecommunications bubble in a nutshell. They almost got deorbited not too long ago when the company declared bankruptcy, but they got purchased at the eleventh hour.<br /><br />Constellation, by the way, is the term for a collection of satellites, usually related in some way, such as the GPS constellation. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>