The Iridium 21 satellite passed over my part of Iowa this morning before sunrise. I set the iPad Air 2 on a firm base pointed at an angle toward the NNW sky. At 6:02 am, I started the 102 sec exposure using the NightCap Camera app, same as for the ISS pass three days earlier. The satellite was going north as it entered the frame at the top. After about 30 sec, a highly reflective mirror-like antenna cast a beam of sunlight down toward me. It brightened to several times more than the planets Venus or Jupiter ever get. Then it dimmed and continued north.
Taken with NightCap Camera | ISS mode | 102 sec | click to embiggen
Another satellite passed at the same time going toward the upper left from north-to-south. It is very faintly visible to the left of the flare. According to the Heavens Above database for my area, it was either a Russian satellite, or an Ariane rocket body.
How I See It 
Nice capture. 2018 will be the last year to see these. In December SpaceX will be launching 10 more Iridium Next sv’s bringing us the the 1/2 way point. The new birds have a different L-Band configuration that does not produce the flare affect. Hopefully none of the old ones hit your house. 😳
I’ll miss them. How long will it take for the orbits to degrade?
They estimate up to a year. The best will be kept around as a backup until all the new guys are up & inservice. I believe a few have already burned up.
Excellent capture … and to think I get jollies from watching the International Space Station zoom by.
Great capture! I’m checking out the NightCap Camera app too. Almost got the moon last night.
The app has a good tutorial.
Great picture, and description of the event.
How did you determine that an exposure of 102 seconds was appropriate?
The app software somehow allows any length of time one needs. It took 102 sec for the pass of the satellite before during and after the bright flare. I just stopped when I felt it was over.
[…] Perhaps you’ve heard of the Iridium satellites. They make up a world-wide satellite phone network. Their satellites are in polar orbits at LEO. Their antennae are highly reflective and can produce bright reflections called Iridium flares. […]