This New Satellite Is the Brightest in the Sky

If you look up tonight, you might see a new light in the sky. The new Russian satellite Mayak—meaning "lighthouse"—was launched into orbit on Friday. Mayak wears a reflective surface that makes it the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon. Mayak is a small cubesat, only measuring a few inches across. It contains a large reflective membrane that was stretched out in the shape of a pyramid almost 10 feet on each side. This pyramid catches the sunlight and sends it toward Earth, making the Mayak one of the brightest objects in orbit. More

(Source: Popular Mechanics - Jul 19)