What Did I See In The Sky Last Night?

[essexplumber]

I went to a MilSim thing in Elvesham forest yesterday and as we were camping for the night the organisers did at night mission.

At around 23:00 4 of us were stood in the pitch black trying to locate the enemy when I saw what I thought was satelite (sp?) moving across the sky, my brother in law swore it was moving far too quickly and was far too bright to be one. I figured that as the sun had only set a couple of hours ago it would still be reflecting the suns light.

Now the only thing that makes me a little unsure is that it was moving from side to side, almost shaking, is that just because of the gases in the upper atmospere or are we being watched?

[Mini1275]

Chinese lantern...

[perdu]

They ARE watching you

[Stu R]

Google Perseid meteor shower.

[essexplumber]

Wasn't a meteorite surely? It went all the way across the sky, it was moving at the same sort of visual speed as a plane. A meteorite would burn up and move far quicker wouldn't it?

[alfa pint]

Seeing as though the perseid meteors are at their best this weekend, it would be difficult to come up with a better argument.

[Gokartmozart]

Was it a single point of light like a star and took around 30 seconds to cross the sky ?, then most likely a satellite.
If bigger than a star then maybe a chinese lantern.

Generally meteor flash or streak across the sky and are short lived 1-2 seconds at most.

[durbster]

Isn't the ISS over Britain at the moment?

[YesItsAVW]

There was a good visual pass of the International Space Station around that time last night, you can see it again around 21:52 tonight if it isn't cloudy.

http://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=25544

[jurbie]

I was in the depths of Wales on Friday night miles from any light pollution and as it was a clear night I spent a couple of hours on a sun lounger watching the sky. The Persids were the most impressive I've seen in a while including a couple that flared up.

I also saw plenty of what the OP describes and having done plenty of International Space Station spotting I have no doubt that they are satellites, I even saw 2 go over parallel with each other which I've not seen before but looked very cool.

[essexplumber]

Gokartmozart said:

Was it a single point of light like a star and took around 30 seconds to cross the sky ?, then most likely a satellite.
If bigger than a star then maybe a chinese lantern.

Generally meteor flash or streak across the sky and are short lived 1-2 seconds at most.

Yeah, I'd say we could see it for 30 sec to a minute. It was far too bright and hight to be a lantern but it also seemed really bright for a satellite (I've seen loads) and it almost zigzagging in the air, not over a great distance but noticeably moving from left to right. That and the brightness (satellites normally look like a distant star) made me question what we saw.

[Eric Mc]

Check the timings for the ISS,

It is a big object - much bigger than the average satellite - and therefore much brighter than the average satellite.

[loose cannon]

if you have an i phone download star walk

[Frik]

ISS I would have thought. It's ridiculously bright when it passes.

[essexplumber]

well, I just took the dogs round the block, looked up and there it was again. 21:50 moving from west to east.

Very bright and obviously the ISS, brilliant to see it pass. Thanks for all the replies those chaps.

[Eric Mc]

There is an ISS thread here.

[Vieste]

I saw a shooting star at the same time heading south lasted a few seconds.

[Stinkfoot]

I saw the ISS on Friday evening whilst down in Hythe. At least I think it was the ISS as it followed the shoreline coming from Dungeness.
It was slow but very bright and at the time I was not sure what is was but a quich look on the net confirmed that it was most likely the ISS?

[Vieste]

Thought i saw that last night going west to east about 10:30 it was not a plane but going a bit faster than a plane would?

[rxtx]

Vieste said:

I saw a shooting star at the same time heading south lasted a few seconds.

Must have been a big one. I was setting up my camera in Mt Cook NZ for some astrophotography a few years ago when the biggest meteorite I've ever seen hit the atmosphere. It lasted a good 4 seconds and I could actually hear it.