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RAINBOW COLORED STAR!?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 19th 03, 08:03 AM
CR
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Default 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  
Old November 19th 03, 03:55 PM
Bill Nunnelee
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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  
Old November 20th 03, 08:58 AM
CR
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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  
Old November 23rd 03, 01:33 AM
Kilolani
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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




  #5  
Old November 30th 03, 05:20 AM
BenignVanilla
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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  
Old December 2nd 03, 03:45 AM
yechidah
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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.




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  #7  
Old December 4th 03, 02:08 PM
Steve
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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  
Old November 20th 03, 12:22 PM
Don Baker
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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  
Old November 23rd 03, 12:16 AM
yechidah
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Default


"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


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