Star Points for June, 1998; by Curtis Roelle Flashers Seen In Westminster What are the brightest natural objects in the night sky? Considering only those bodies whose appearance is predictable and discarding bright comets, meteors, and excessively rare nearby supernovas, then in descending order the brightest three are the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter. But if we allow man-made objects as well then (in the words of the 1960's cult television classic "The Prisoner") the new #2 are the satellites that go by the name Iridium, the first of which were launched in May, 1997. The mission of the Iridium satellites is to support world wide transmission of digital telephone communications. This is done using a "constellation" of satellites. The original plan called for 77 satellites to be launched. The name Iridium was usurped from the element whose atomic number happens to be 77. The number of satellites was later pared down to 66 but the name Iridium remained. Every Iridium satellite has three highly reflective flat antennae each measuring approximately six feet by three feet. When one happens to catch a glimmer of sunlight in a darkened sky they momentarily glint with a gleam half as bright as the full moon! While these flare events last only about ten seconds each, on any given night it is possible for several flares to occur due to the number of Iridium satellites in orbit. What is seen is a slowly moving point of light whose brightness crescendos for several seconds after which it fades. As in real estate the most important characteristic of an Iridium display is the observer's location. This is due to the narrow beam of sunlight being reflected by the antenna. An observer at one location might see a dramatic flare while another several miles away sees an unimpressive display. Since location is such an important factor the question becomes how does one know when flares occur and where in the sky can they be seen? If you have access to the web free predictions customized for Westminster are available on the Maryland Iridium flare page sponsored by the U.S. Navy at http://scivis.nps.navy.mil/~cmcholar/iridmd.html. For each flare event the table contains the local time, compass direction, and altitude in degrees. The magnitude column indicates the expected brightness of the event with large negative numbers (i.e. -8) being the brightest. Who should observe flares? Flare observing is an exciting family activity. If your kids are glued to the computer show them where to find the flare page mentioned above and at the appropriate time on a clear night step outside with them. It's a good opportunity to tear them away from the computer or television for some fresh outside air. No optical aid is needed as the flares are easily visible to the unaided eye. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday June 10 at Bear Branch Nature Center on John Owings Road, Gilbert Levin Ph.D (Biospherics Inc.) will be discussing "Life On Mars". In his lecture Dr. Levin will review NASA's efforts to determine if life exists or has existed on the surface of Mars. Dr. Levin has worked on experiments aboard previous Mars missions and is continuing with work on future missions. The meeting is free and open to the public. More information may be obtained by calling 410-875-4148, or via e-mail to crux2000@yahoo.com.