The Iridium 23 satellite will flash briefly but brightly early this morning high in the southern sky near Saturn and Mars.

The event, known as an Iridium flare, will take place at 5:51 a.m. about halfway up the sky.

Iridium satellites have large, very reflective antennas that occasionally bounce the sun’s light back down to Earth. After the sun and the moon, they are among the brightest objects in space.

Sharing the sky will be Mars, in the left claw of Scorpius the scorpion, and Saturn, to the left of Mars. The Iridium flare will be to the left of Saturn.

Mars has a brightness or magnitude of minus 3, while Saturn shines at plus 1, about the same as Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius. By comparison, the Iridium flare will be at minus 8, many times brighter than Mars. The lower the magnitude, the brighter an object shines.

Venus will be rising over the eastern horizon, while a nearly full moon will be low in the west.

The sun will rise about 6:30 a.m.

Isles had second bat species, study finds

Bishop Museum scientists have helped document the existence of a second bat species that once lived in the Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawaiian hoary bat is the state’s only native land mammal. But a new study says a second bat lived alongside the hoary bat for thousands of years. Researchers say they believe the second bat went extinct shortly after humans arrived in the islands.

The study appears this week in the journal American Museum Novitates.

Bishop Museum entomologist Francis Howarth co-authored the paper with the late Bishop Museum mammologist Alan Ziegler and Nancy Simmons of the American Museum of Natural History.

Fossils indicate the bat was in the islands from at least 320,000 years ago and survived until at least 1,100 years ago.

Neighbor Islands

Camping OK again in valleys on Big Island

Camping is again allowed in Waipio and Waimano valleys on Hawaii island, which were closed by health officials in January because of the outbreak of dengue fever.

Hawaii County officials reopened Waipio Valley Road Monday, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources reopened the Muliwai hiking trail on the far cliff-side of Waipio Valley and its campground in the next valley, Waimanu.

Dengue is a viral infection spread via mosquitoes that transmit the virus from person to person through bites.

There have been 262 cases of dengue fever reported since September.

The state Health Department reported that of the confirmed cases, 236 are Hawaii island residents and 26 are visitors. A total of 1,512 reported potential cases have been excluded based on test results and/or not meeting case criteria.

Hikers interested in camping in remote Waimanu Valley may reserve permits on the DLNR Wiki Permit website, at camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html or at the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife district office at 19 E. Kawili St., Hilo. The phone number is 974-4221.

For information on dengue, go to health.hawaii.gov or call the Department of Health at 974-6001.