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jimmy
2003-Oct-07, 02:36 AM
Hi,
Last Thursday, Oct. 2, somewhere between 10 and 10:30 PM, I was returning to Galliano, LA from Thibodeaux, LA and I saw a very bright object pretty close to the moon, which was a little more than half full and in the western sky. My first impression was that something was wrong because that was very much brighter than Sirius or any planet I have ever seen. I looked to see where Mars was and sure enough my bearings were correct, and the object was about 10 times brighter than Mars, but it was white. I had some conversations with my friends and after about 5 or 10 minutes the object was not there any more. Could it have been that asteroid that I saw, then it got drowned in the light of the Moon? I appreciate any helpful possible explanations. Thanks, Jimmy!

Dave Mitsky
2003-Oct-07, 01:30 PM
If the object was only visible for a relatively short period of time it was most likely an Iridium flare. See http://www.heavens-above.com

Dave Mitsky

Fraser
2003-Oct-07, 03:57 PM
Yeah, that definitely sounds like an Iridium flare. They can be really bright if you see them at their brightest point.

jimmy
2003-Oct-08, 11:02 PM
Thanks fellas,

that makes sense.