What are Iridium Flares?
Iridium flares are nothing more than the sun’s reflection off the communications satellites owned by the Iridium Satellite company and used for satellite phone service. The antennas of these satellites are positioned in such a way that they can brilliantly reflect the sunlight, producing a brief spectacle in the night sky, known as a glint. Sometimes, the flare is so bright, it can even be seen during the day. The antennas that produce the iridium flares seen from the ground are not what many may imagine when they hear the word. Rather than being made from iridium, a metal similar to platinum and used for its harness, the antennas on these satellites are plates of highly reflective aluminum. Each satellite has three antennas with a height of 6.2 feet (188 cm) and a width of 2.5 feet (86 cm). Iridium flares are different from the normal occurrence of seeing a satellite cross the night sky. In darker areas, seeing satellites is a commonplace event. Stargazers can readily point these out
Satellite flares, in general, are bright flashes of light visible from the ground when the Sun light reflects off satellites flying above. The Iridium phone satellites, in particular, generate very bright flares due to their format; the flashes can go up to magnitude -8, and can be visible in bright daylight if you know where to look at. Flares are very localised events; the “spot” of light created on the ground is some 10km wide, so you need to know your location (latitude/longitude) failry precisely in order to find out about them. Google Maps can help with that.
