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#1
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RAINBOW COLORED STAR!?
I noticed a rainbow colored star in the eastern sky tonight, when I observed
it with binoculars it seems to radiate many colors of light. What is it?!? I've never seen anything like it. |
#2
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We would need a location and time to say for sure, but it's probably Sirius.
The star itself isn't intrinsically multi-colored though. Its light is being briefly broken into its component wavelengths as it passes through turbulence in our atmosphere. Bright stars often display this seemingly more radical form of twinkling when near the horizon. "CR" wrote in message t... I noticed a rainbow colored star in the eastern sky tonight, when I observed it with binoculars it seems to radiate many colors of light. What is it?!? I've never seen anything like it. |
#3
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"Bill Nunnelee" wrote in message link.net... We would need a location and time to say for sure, but it's probably Sirius. The star itself isn't intrinsically multi-colored though. Its light is being briefly broken into its component wavelengths as it passes through turbulence in our atmosphere. Bright stars often display this seemingly more radical form of twinkling when near the horizon. Thanks for your response that seems reasonable that it's light was being broken into different parts, I was wondering how I could see all the different colors with the naked eye without the star's light being refracted off of some particles floating in space around the star. What is breaking apart the light into component wavelengths? The star's location was half-way up from the horizon between the horizon and the constellation Orion, directly below the belt. It shimmered white, red, green, purplish, blue and was brilliant - it happened to be the brightest star in the sky on a very clear night and I viewed it from the top of a hill with few lights around. It did twinkle different colors as you suggested |
#4
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Yep... that's Sirius alright. The brightest star in the sky. The way I
understand it, Earth's atmosphere acts like a prism to break up the light. Other stars that do this: Canopus (carina) Rigel Kentarus (alpha centauri) Arcturus (bootes) Vega (lyra) Capella (auriga) Rigel (orion) In all cases except Rigel these will be the CLEARLY brightest stars in the constellation, you can't miss 'em. "CR" wrote in message t... What is breaking apart the light into component wavelengths? The star's location was half-way up from the horizon between the horizon and the constellation Orion, directly below the belt. It shimmered white, red, green, purplish, blue and was brilliant - it happened to be the brightest star in the sky on a very clear night and I viewed it from the top of a hill with few lights around. It did twinkle different colors as you suggested |
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"Kilolani" wrote in message hlink.net... Yep... that's Sirius alright. The brightest star in the sky. The way I understand it, Earth's atmosphere acts like a prism to break up the light. Other stars that do this: Canopus (carina) Rigel Kentarus (alpha centauri) Arcturus (bootes) Vega (lyra) Capella (auriga) Rigel (orion) In all cases except Rigel these will be the CLEARLY brightest stars in the constellation, you can't miss 'em. snip I checked out Sirius the other night and was floored. It is amazing how much the colors sparkle on this star. Bringing the scope out of focus created an amazing color show. -- BV. WebPorgmaster www.IHeartMyPond.com Help Support IHMP by shopping at Amazon.com thru our associates link, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...ome/dcg8118-20. |
#6
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Can someone please post some photos of Sirius?
YS "BenignVanilla" wrote in message ... "Kilolani" wrote in message hlink.net... Yep... that's Sirius alright. The brightest star in the sky. The way I understand it, Earth's atmosphere acts like a prism to break up the light. Other stars that do this: Canopus (carina) Rigel Kentarus (alpha centauri) Arcturus (bootes) Vega (lyra) Capella (auriga) Rigel (orion) In all cases except Rigel these will be the CLEARLY brightest stars in the constellation, you can't miss 'em. snip I checked out Sirius the other night and was floored. It is amazing how much the colors sparkle on this star. Bringing the scope out of focus created an amazing color show. -- BV. WebPorgmaster www.IHeartMyPond.com Help Support IHMP by shopping at Amazon.com thru our associates link, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...ome/dcg8118-20. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.542 / Virus Database: 336 - Release Date: 11/18/03 |
#7
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BenignVanilla wrote:
I checked out Sirius the other night and was floored. It is amazing how much the colors sparkle on this star. Bringing the scope out of focus created an amazing color show. Yeah, I was driving on the motorway late at night and the colour show was amazing :-) Steve -- www.frontierastro.co.uk FrontierAstro - dedicated to Frontier and Astronomy |
#8
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You need to be a little more specific about your location (just the city &
country perhaps). But what you describe sounds like Sirius. This happens when a bright star is low on the horizon. Basically, the atmosphere causes the light to be refracted (I believe that's the correct term). Then, heat waves bend that light like crazy, to display many colors. Want to see something cool? Find it in the telescope, then "un-focus" the star. You're in for a lightshow. -- Don Baker San Antonio Astronomical Association Public Programs Coordinator Go 18, 5 & 14....(also 8, 40, & 30) www.geocities.com/thebugbomber "CR" wrote in message t... I noticed a rainbow colored star in the eastern sky tonight, when I observed it with binoculars it seems to radiate many colors of light. What is it?!? I've never seen anything like it. |
#9
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"CR" wrote in message t... I noticed a rainbow colored star in the eastern sky tonight, when I observed it with binoculars it seems to radiate many colors of light. What is it?!? I've never seen anything like it. What is your location and what time was this? Any mention in the local papers? Thanks YS --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.516 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 9/1/03 |
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