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Though prices remain stratospheric, there's one thing about Iridium's multibillion-dollar satellite phone system everyone can enjoy. With a free astronomy Web site as your guide, you can sit on your front lawn and watch spectacular flashes caused by sunlight glinting off the satellites' communications antennas.
The so-called Iridium flares typically have a brightness between magnitude -1 and -8, making them among the brightest objects in the night sky. Just face the right general direction at the right time, and you can't miss them.
Knowing where and when to look normally requires intricate calculations and an almanac of satellite positions. But thanks to the German Space Operations Center Web site, you can simply type in your town and read a list of the week's flares, customized to your backyard.
German Space Operations Center Satellite Predictions: www2.gsoc.dlr.de/satvis.
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