Astronomy this week, as a change from books. We could hardly believe our eyes at 21.14 on October 18th when we glanced skywards. A brilliant light appeared just above the southern horizon and climbed steadily on a south-north orbit.

Soon we could distinguish a satellite, a sight we frequently see, but this one was trailing a cone-shaped tail of brightness and was at least twice as bright as the usual ones that cross the sky. The object travelling on the same orbit behind it was stunning – by far the brightest object in the sky. It, too was trailing a long bright, cone-shaped tail and an immense shining halo soon developed. 

Pointless to rush indoors for a tripod and camera so we just gazed in amazement until the whole dazzling show disappeared over the northern horizon four minutes later. We wondered whether Tuesday’s press would be full of the occurrence.

But no! Complete silence. Were we the only people out that night? We began our researches and soon established that we had been fortunate enough to witness the upper stage of the launching of a US polar satellite the DMSP.F18. It had been launched from Vandenburg at 16.12 G.M.T. and we were amazingly lucky in that it was boosted into its orbit by an Atlas Centaur rocket right over our garden! The glowing halo which created a vast ‘moonbow’ was the excess fuel that is vented when the engine is fired to send the redundant Centaur upper stage out of the earth orbit.

This beat Halley’s comet hollow!

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