15480 Empire Rd. Benson, AZ 85602 hm ph: 520-586-2244 Hi Cary, As you say, the atmosphere can act as a lens and produce interesting effects, especially at large angles. SOFIA is up and running and it's possible you caught it in operation. You may never come up with a solution, but it sounds like you're getting an education researching the problem which is even more valuable! Clear skies, Wayne (aka Mr. Galaxy) ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "Cary B. Grant," <cbgrant@xxxxxxxxxx> To: "Wayne aka Mr. Galaxy" <mrgalaxy@xxxxxxxx> Cc: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [AZ-Observing] Possible explanation Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 11:25:29 -0700 Wayne, I've been doing some more research on atmospheric seeing, looking at how far the visible horizon is for an observer, and the effect refraction can have on what an observer is seeing. I believe it is very possible what I was seeing was indeed only at normal aircraft altitudes and because of the ability of the atmosphere to refract the reflected light from that aircraft, make it possible for us to see it over 600 nautical miles away. Observers on the ground are very familiar with the poor seeing the atmosphere produces when an astronomical target is less that 20 degrees above the horizon. As I recall the target I was watching was in this area. I have found some formulas for calculating this effect and when I have time to work on them I hope to have more answers. What I do wonder is since the reflected or original source light was so bright, I think it was a rather large aircraft. Wonder if SOFIA or the Airborne Battle Laser Aircraft was flying? Cary -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.