Flares brighter than mag -4 are readily visible in daylight (just like Venus is). It's a challenge to see them only because you need to be looking in the right place (usually without much in the way of reference) and you need your eyes to be properly focuses. But 10-15 seconds is too long for an Iridium flare, and even if it lasted that long, you'd see noticeable movement over that time.

Chris

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Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Flaherty" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 2:54 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] iridium flares?


Are Iridium flares customarily visible in the daytime. What I saw this afternoon in the southwest was possibly an aircraft but because it varied in brightness so intensely and remained "motionless" for the 10 to 15 seconds I observed it, I thought Flare?!
Jerry Flaherty

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