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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
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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
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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 |
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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. |
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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 |
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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
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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
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"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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