Iridium Flares Are Disappearing From The Skies

For the last 20 years Iridium Flares have been a regular feature of satellite watching as the iridium network provided a nice predictable set of satellites which just happened to produce satellite flares. However the old network is in the process of being replaced and soon you'll not be able to see this phenomena.

[theCodyReeder]

I want to get two cameras and take a photo of one at the same time from locations spaced a few miles apart so that I can get a "3D" image. Guess I have to do that sooner than later.

[SCA]

Thats kinda sad for me, before my Dad passed away we would sit on his back porch and watch them, he would point and say wait for it.... boom it was there. 13 years later I still watch for them when I get a chance.

[putrid.p]

To be fair, the colliding satellites did come within 584m of each other.

[VulpeculaJoy]

Fun story: for the first time in decades I've finally been somewhere far away enough from cities (sailing off the coast of Croatia) to be able to see a lot more stars than usual, and I literally cried of joy when I realized that those fast, but not too fast, steadily moving, not blinking lights were actually satellites.
Also it was shooting star night so I lost count at around 20 meteors... One of the most beautiful moments in my life.

[timothymclean]

I'm actually glad they didn't change the name. "Dysprosium Flare" just doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?

[Ralph]

You speak so well, you don't waffle your videos are packed with information that I did not know before. Thank you for educating me! :)

[myvideosetc.]

I remember the looks of the neighbors on the vacation resort apartment looong ago, when in the middle of the night we got out and started looking to a suposedly random place in the night sky pointing our fingers... and then a 13 class flare happened.

And next night we did it again...

This was the internet early era, i think they believed we where in contact with aliens or something like that, good times.

[aaronporebski]

CelesTrak: Cosmos 2251 will pass within 581 meters of Iridium 33.
Cosmos 2251: *smashes into Iridium 33 at 11km/s*
CelesTrak: Well, technically, it did come within 581 meters.

[R.Instro]

It was the platinum coating on the antennas of the old version that's responsible for the super-high reflectivity of the old satellites vs the new. The close-up at 2:48 shows this coating pretty clearly.

[AbbreviatedReviews]

I remember the first time I saw an Iridium flare and it scared me. I knew I was looking at a satellite and admired spotting one, but when it got super bright I had no idea what was going on.

[thlt-fz]

After i watched the video i looked at the website and noticed that a flare that was visible from my location was coming up in 9 minutes. So i used the StarWalk app to track it down and i maneged to see it. Thank you Scott

[casperleeberg]

used Iridium a lot when I was sailing container vessels ... much cheaper than Inmarsat ... today we uses V-sat which is flattrate

[JohnMichaelson]

We take the little enjoyments in life so much for granted until they're on the verge of disappearing. Knowing they'll no longer happen makes me sad in a nostalgic kind of way.

[ericgulseth]

I work nights, and try to get outside to catch these and the iss. Sad to see them leave, but glad I caught them when I did.

[planetrob]

EDITED: Yes, this is a phenomenon that those of us of a certain generation need to remember. Good on you, Scott, for pointing all this out. This is something I saw while growing up. I remember being in Boy Scouts back in the late 70's and my scout master pointing out what looked like a constant point of light in the sky moving towards the horizon. It then faded out and disappeared. I'm 53, and this phenomenon will soon disappear. It is TOTALLY worth remembering. This is part of the history of human space exploration. It will be sad, to me, when it disappears, much like Skylab from my childhood.

[aiciy]

RIP in peace, Iridium flares. We saw a magnitude -9 flare a year ago in the Shenandoah valley. It was really cool.

[Veptis]

it's sad... I used it to impress girls. The very last flare ever photographed will be a aPoD.

No other sat flare this great.

[kimmer]

A few years ago I went to the Martinez, Ca, fishing pier to watch an Iridium flare of -6.0 magnitude at 86 degrees nearly overhead. I was tracking the approach on my phone using the ISS Detector app. Some crackheads hanging out noticed the phone sky map and asked what I was doing. I told them that I was testing a new device for Lockheed Martin where I could ''turn on the porch light'' of a satellite. They watched as I told them that I will send a signal when they heard the 5 second beep countdown.

Sure enough, the bright flare came on time and lasted about 3 seconds. These guys were thrilled. One guy told me to do it again. I said that I couldn't because the batteries on the spacecraft needed to recharge. I have seen more than 200 Iridium flares in the last few years. I shall miss them.

[robertszymanski]

When I was a kid in the mid 1960's the news on tv mentioned that Sputnik satellite was going over Southern California and if you have a AM radio, you can hear a beeping sound on it as the satellite passed over! My dad and I saw it going through the sky! Dashes of sunlight reflecting off of it! That was AWESOME!

When i was a kid, me and my dad found these things on the heavens-above page. Basically we just got access to the internet those times. And since these flare predictions were so accurate (to seconds), we used them to set our clocks. It was a pointless but really enjoyable activity, and we could say "my watch is set to satellites".
Now, 15 years later i was shocked to read they'll disappear. So good memories, and so nice to watch them. I hoped that one day i can show them to friends/gf etc., these flares look so magical. I gotta hurry up, i guess 😀
Btw, apart from the ISS, do anyone knows similar kind of predictable flares? That are bright enough of course, some faint satellites are still visible.
Fly safe!