Wondering if anybody knows what I saw in roughly the fall of 2005.

Submitted by tribblydribbly t3_122rtm3 in space

I was in a rural area of southeastern Missouri in an area dark enough to see the milky way band pretty clearly. I was helping somebody move and about 40 degrees above the horizon I glanced and saw what appeared to be a star expand big enough that if you held a nickel at arm’s length it took up about that area of sky. Maintained a “luminous “ appearance and shrank until it wasn’t there anymore.

At the time as a 15 year old I thought I watched a star explode but I know that is next to impossible. I’ve watched many meteor showers in my life and never saw a shooting star look even remotely like that. Any ideas as to what it could’ve been are appreciated.

This didn’t track across the sky but remained in the same spot.

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collegefurtrader t1_jdrgk8f wrote

Possibly an Iridium flare.

http://www.satobs.org/iridium.html

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tribblydribbly OP t1_jdrj87j wrote

I think you solved it! Watched a couple videos of very bright short lived ones and that pretty much matches what I saw. What a lucky time and place to look up.

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sqoopstoo t1_jdsbs8s wrote

Iridium satellites were so reflective and predictable that later in their lifespans certain websites and apps could notify you precisely when and where their "sunbeams" would pass near your specific lat/lons, especially during peak visible conditions. Sometimes we could catch multiple Iridiums chasing each other, even as brief as they are, simultaneously or near so. That's also when we could catch both the ISS and even Shuttles, on rare occasions, in the same pre-morning or early night skies, one chasing the other on a couple of occasions. My kids were the perfect young ages to wonder why dad was so enthusiastic about "sky things". They're 20-somethings now, and they still make a habit of pausing now and then, under the "dark limbs" of twilight, watching for wtvr might gleam down. Good times 💫

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