Flare

Satellite Flare

  I let the dog out the other night to find a clear sky with bright twinkling stars and quickly set up one of my cameras to photograph.  In the pre dawn morning, a large satellite caught the glare of the sun and reflected it back down to Earth as it flew by.  Satellite flares are quite common, especially after dusk and before dawn as the Sun's rays are low but have yet to brighten the atmosphere below.  The largest flares come from the orbiting International Space Station.  I looked at the timing tables, and this is not the ISS, but it definitely is a large satellite.