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Unknown light



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 24th 04, 01:28 AM
Michael Barlow
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Default Unknown light

Took a break at 8pm and went out side. I took a glance at the sky to
see what kind of cloud cover we have and to see if I wanted to attempt to
set the scope up or not. I faced North and up at about a 50-60 degree angle
and out of the blue was a star. It was still far to bright for stars and
yet there it was. For Jupiter and Saturn I'd have to face South and since I
couldn't see them yet I'd assume I wouldn't be able to see any other stars
for at least an hour. Venus and the Moon were out to the East so I knew it
wasn't Venus and this was stationary for 15 minutes so I knew it wasn't a
plane or satellite. I had my Brother come out and take a look, Between the
clouds he seen it so it wasn't my eye's either. Suggestions on what it
could have been?

--
Michael A. Barlow


  #2  
Old April 24th 04, 02:01 AM
LarryG
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Default Unknown light

On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 00:28:38 GMT, Michael Barlow
wrote:

Took a break at 8pm and went out side. I took a glance at the sky to
see what kind of cloud cover we have and to see if I wanted to attempt to
set the scope up or not. I faced North and up at about a 50-60 degree
angle
and out of the blue was a star. It was still far to bright for stars and
yet there it was. For Jupiter and Saturn I'd have to face South and
since I
couldn't see them yet I'd assume I wouldn't be able to see any other
stars
for at least an hour. Venus and the Moon were out to the East so I knew


Last time I checked (yesterday, PM) the Moon and Venus were WEST in the
evening sky. ;-)




it
wasn't Venus and this was stationary for 15 minutes so I knew it wasn't a
plane or satellite. I had my Brother come out and take a look, Between
the
clouds he seen it so it wasn't my eye's either. Suggestions on what it
could have been?



What part of the country do you live in? Are their any airports nearby?

cheers,
Larry G.




--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
  #3  
Old April 24th 04, 02:05 AM
Alan French
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Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light

"Michael Barlow" wrote in message
...
Took a break at 8pm and went out side. I took a glance at the sky to
see what kind of cloud cover we have and to see if I wanted to attempt to
set the scope up or not. I faced North and up at about a 50-60 degree

angle
and out of the blue was a star. It was still far to bright for stars and
yet there it was. For Jupiter and Saturn I'd have to face South and since

I
couldn't see them yet I'd assume I wouldn't be able to see any other stars
for at least an hour. Venus and the Moon were out to the East so I knew

it
wasn't Venus and this was stationary for 15 minutes so I knew it wasn't a
plane or satellite. I had my Brother come out and take a look, Between

the
clouds he seen it so it wasn't my eye's either. Suggestions on what it
could have been?


Michael,

One night many years ago Sue and I spotted a star in bright evening twilight
while hiking near the club's observatory. At first, we thought it was
Jupiter, and wondered how long it would be before it would be dark enough to
reveal Mars, which was not far from Jupiter at the time. Looking farther
westward, we spotted Venus, and realized the "star" was too bright for
Jupiter. We then noticed Jupiter and Mars, and our extra bright star became
a mystery. We headed down the trail toward the observatory, glacing from
time to time at the mysterious interloper. As I glanced at it once, it
suddenly vanished, and I thought I glimpsed a brief line of light as it
disappeared.

Sue is not one to let a mystery go unsolved, so she spent part of the next
morning on the phone. We had seen a weather balloon and its demise. More
recently, we saw another, also very bright. This one was viewed by a
neighbor with an RV-6, and he could see the instrument package below the
balloon. That is certainly a possible explanation for your mysterious star.

Clear skies, Alan

  #4  
Old April 24th 04, 02:22 AM
Michael Barlow
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Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light


Last time I checked (yesterday, PM) the Moon and Venus were WEST in the
evening sky. ;-)


Whoops! I did get the North and South directions right though:-) Any
case, After I posted that I went out to find it again and it was gone.
Jupiter was bright in the South but looking back North I couldn't find the
star I seen earlier. After a while i did find Polaris and I believe the
"Star" would be in that neighborhood. I remembered HeavensAbove.com and
checked that but nothing showed for that time.



What part of the country do you live in? Are their any airports nearby?


Upstate NY. It wasn't a plane because it was stationary and I had the
house as a stationary object as a reference. Plus it wasn't bright enough
(to me) to be a reflection from a plane or a headlight from one. If it was
a Star and Venus was a Magnitude -4.5, I say this "star" would be about -1.
I'll keep my eye on the sky and get a better position fix. I should have
just kept quiet and did the search on my own to find out what it was but
being something completely out of the ordinary kind of gets the heart
pumping.


  #5  
Old April 24th 04, 02:43 AM
Michael Barlow
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Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light

That's a possibility. I'll do a little asking around and see if
anything comes up.

--
Michael A. Barlow
"Alan French" wrote in message
.. .

Michael,

One night many years ago Sue and I spotted a star in bright evening

twilight
while hiking near the club's observatory. At first, we thought it was
Jupiter, and wondered how long it would be before it would be dark enough

to
reveal Mars, which was not far from Jupiter at the time. Looking farther
westward, we spotted Venus, and realized the "star" was too bright for
Jupiter. We then noticed Jupiter and Mars, and our extra bright star

became
a mystery. We headed down the trail toward the observatory, glacing from
time to time at the mysterious interloper. As I glanced at it once, it
suddenly vanished, and I thought I glimpsed a brief line of light as it
disappeared.

Sue is not one to let a mystery go unsolved, so she spent part of the next
morning on the phone. We had seen a weather balloon and its demise. More
recently, we saw another, also very bright. This one was viewed by a
neighbor with an RV-6, and he could see the instrument package below the
balloon. That is certainly a possible explanation for your mysterious

star.

Clear skies, Alan



  #6  
Old April 24th 04, 04:44 AM
Craig MacDougal
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Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light

"Alan French" wrote in message
news:r3jic.115711
Sue is not one to let a mystery go unsolved, so she spent part of the next
morning on the phone. We had seen a weather balloon and its demise. More
recently, we saw another, also very bright. This one was viewed by a
neighbor with an RV-6, and he could see the instrument package below the
balloon. That is certainly a possible explanation for your mysterious

star.

I've seen the same thing. We were looking for Saturn in the twilight years
ago. The same kind of experience, including aiming a scope at it and seeing
the instrument package.

The balloons are launched 00:00 and 12:00 UT each day (although I don't
think they worry about being a few minutes early or late.) This fits Mr.
Barlow's observed time. In NY balloons are launched from Albany and Buffalo.

Clear Skies,
Craig in Tampa


  #7  
Old April 24th 04, 11:36 AM
Jeroen Smaal
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Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light


"Michael Barlow" wrote in message
...
Took a break at 8pm and went out side. I took a glance at the sky to
see what kind of cloud cover we have and to see if I wanted to attempt to
set the scope up or not. I faced North and up at about a 50-60 degree

angle
and out of the blue was a star. It was still far to bright for stars and
yet there it was. For Jupiter and Saturn I'd have to face South and since

I
couldn't see them yet I'd assume I wouldn't be able to see any other stars
for at least an hour. Venus and the Moon were out to the East so I knew

it
wasn't Venus and this was stationary for 15 minutes so I knew it wasn't a
plane or satellite. I had my Brother come out and take a look, Between

the
clouds he seen it so it wasn't my eye's either. Suggestions on what it
could have been?

--
Michael A. Barlow



Vega?

Jeroen.


  #8  
Old April 24th 04, 05:32 PM
Alan French
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Unknown light

"Craig MacDougal" wrote in message
. ..
"Alan French" wrote in message
news:r3jic.115711
Sue is not one to let a mystery go unsolved, so she spent part of the

next
morning on the phone. We had seen a weather balloon and its demise.

More
recently, we saw another, also very bright. This one was viewed by a
neighbor with an RV-6, and he could see the instrument package below the
balloon. That is certainly a possible explanation for your mysterious

star.

I've seen the same thing. We were looking for Saturn in the twilight years
ago. The same kind of experience, including aiming a scope at it and

seeing
the instrument package.

The balloons are launched 00:00 and 12:00 UT each day (although I don't
think they worry about being a few minutes early or late.) This fits Mr.
Barlow's observed time. In NY balloons are launched from Albany and

Buffalo.

Craig,

Yes, the balloons we see are almost certainly from Albany.

Clear skies, Alan

 




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