The night sky........

Magnesium will also give off a greenish colour at the right temperature, Ziggy. The thing is the sighting was unexpected and brief so I'm trying to retain the true image in my mind by keeping it simple....if you follow my drift.
Yes, Jenny, I do still have some friends and contacts in the RAF, particularly on the Radar side of it. There is a RAF Unit that keeps track of space debris and meteorites and knows what satellites are where and what's happening i.e: any changes in orbits, and malfunctions......I can only ask

 

9th head from your left, Jenny, on the front row with his hands in his pockets...scruffy airman!!!, in my first year as an Air Radar Fitter proper......good days!!

 

The sky is a pretty open place these days, Jenny. You'd be surprised how many Military, Government, Civilian, and amateur organisations track and categorise satellites of all kinds from all countries 24/7. Malfunctions are defined as those satellites that stop functioning before their stated lifetime, those whose orbits are degrading and will eventually return to Earth, a very few will get damaged by other debris and lose orbit, plus there's thousands upon thousands of bits of metal from the thousands of launches and other incidents. There's a lot of metal flying above your head that you can't see, I'm afraid!!

 

Are you a pilot then Armandii?

 

No, FC, "Steely Eyed Killers" [Pilots] did a dangerous job flying aircraft . I was an Air Radar Fitter and rose to the dizzy rank of Chief Technician before leaving. If you look at the front of the Lightning in the pic you'll see a cone sticking out of the front..... that housed the radar for the aircraft and that was my "baby". Because of the shortage of my trade I ended up working on air to air missiles, ground to air missiles, reconnaissance aircraft of differing types that used specialised radar, and then on Ground Radar using Military radar that could see beyond normal range and "painted" and i.d. stuff normally not picked up. Then my last tour was at a Organisation known as CTTO which did trials on stuff.

 

That must have been fascinating! As a kid, I always wanted a career in electronics, and even began to pursue it when I left school by getting a job in a TV/Video dealer - many nights spent in the workshop trying to learn (mostly by trial and error); I learnt a bit, but in truth I simply wasn't clever enough. I truly admire guys like you who have not only learnt your trade, but learnt it to such a high standard.


Before I get told off, I better get back on topic

Relatively clear night here tonight, and although there is not many stars obtainable through the scope (mostly due to our inexperience, I'd suggest), however the moon is fairly spectacular - and below is what you get when you shove the lens of and HTC One X up against the eyepiece of a telescope