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El destello cerca de la constelación había sido muy impredecible.

El destello cerca de la constelación había sido muy impredecible.
The flash near the constellation had been very unpredictable.
From Lesson 284:Colloquial probability (capaz que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El destello cerca de la constelación había sido muy impredecible.

Why is había sido used here instead of había estado?
Había sido is the past perfect form of ser (to be), meaning "had been." We use ser here because being impredecible (unpredictable) is an inherent characteristic of the flash, not a temporary state or location, which would require estar.
I know cerca means "near" or "close", but why is there a de after it?
When you specify exactly what something is near, you must use the phrase cerca de. So, "near the constellation" is cerca de la constelación. If you just said "The flash was near," you would drop the preposition and simply say El destello estaba cerca.
The current lesson is about capaz que for probability. How would I add that to this sentence?
To say "The flash might have been very unpredictable," you can add capaz que to the beginning: Capaz que el destello había sido muy impredecible. While the original sentence states a definite fact in the past, adding capaz que instantly turns it into a colloquial guess.
How can I break down the word impredecible to remember its meaning?
You can spot the verb predecir (to predict) right in the middle! The prefix im- means "not" or "un-", and the suffix -ible works just like it does in English. Put them all together and you get "un-predict-able."

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