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#11
September 14th 03, 07:24 PM
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I agree. It's Arcturus, one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky.
"Painius" wrote in message ... wrote in message... ... No, that's not what it was.. it was a star or planet of sorts. As I said, it did not move over a period of 15 minutes, just a slight downward drift that followed the normal rotation of the night sky. It was 'twinkling' intensly, not flashing as an aircraft would. It was just very visable and quite noticable tonight from my location. Maybe there is a sky map of sorts I could check? Thanks, Cej 'Lo Cej -- Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Tonight, if the sky is clear, head out about the same time and look for the "Big Dipper." It'll be northwest or so. When you find the BD, follow the handle around and then straight south. If you soon come to the same object you saw last night, then it's Arcturus, one of the most beautiful and brightest stars in the sky... Arcturus is a little less than 37 light-years away. It's very large-- almost 70 times wider than our own star--and it shines with a luminosity of nearly 1200 of our Suns! The multicoloring happens a lot when stars, specially bright ones like Arcturus, get closer and closer to the horizon. They have more and more of Earth's atmosphere to penetrate, so their twinkling gets more and more beautiful! hth happy days and... starry starry nights! -- Asimov! where have you gone? Your written word goes on and on, All becomes so clear to see In Asimov's Astronomy! Paine Ellsworth 
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#12
September 15th 03, 04:38 AM
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"Painius" wrote in message news:EcX8b.141263
Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Naw! The poster stated it was 9:30 pm and the object was about 35 degrees up from the horizon. At 9:30 where he is, Arcturus would be very close if not on the horizon. The brightest object in that portion of the sky at that time would probably be Vega but it would be more like 50 to 60 degrees up from he horizon instead of 35. I can't imagine Vega coming close to matching his twinkly description. That said, perhaps the time was a little earlier and the object was not as high as he thought it was. If that is the case, the Arcturus was close enough to the horizon for our atmosphere to cause the colors and twinkling he described. Occams Razor suggests this as a distinct possibility. Or perhaps he saw a you-foe!
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#13
September 15th 03, 04:38 AM
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"Painius" wrote in message news:EcX8b.141263
Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Naw! The poster stated it was 9:30 pm and the object was about 35 degrees up from the horizon. At 9:30 where he is, Arcturus would be very close if not on the horizon. The brightest object in that portion of the sky at that time would probably be Vega but it would be more like 50 to 60 degrees up from he horizon instead of 35. I can't imagine Vega coming close to matching his twinkly description. That said, perhaps the time was a little earlier and the object was not as high as he thought it was. If that is the case, the Arcturus was close enough to the horizon for our atmosphere to cause the colors and twinkling he described. Occams Razor suggests this as a distinct possibility. Or perhaps he saw a you-foe!
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#14
September 15th 03, 01:44 PM
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"Jim Fisher" wrote...
in message ... "Painius" wrote in message news:EcX8b.141263 Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Naw! The poster stated it was 9:30 pm and the object was about 35 degrees up from the horizon. At 9:30 where he is, Arcturus would be very close if not on the horizon. At that time on that date, Arcturus was about 16 degrees up from the horizon. If you go out and look at it, which i did, you may easily see how someone might eyeball Arcturus and call it 30 or 35 degrees. It *does* appear a little higher. As you mention, Vega is much higher at that time and most probably not shimmering like Arcturus. As one other poster mentioned, it could have been Antares. Since Antares was down to the SW and since the poster said "west," i figured the most likely sparkler was Arcturus. And IIRC, Arcturus is just a tad brighter than Vega, isn't it? The brightest object in that portion of the sky at that time would probably be Vega but it would be more like 50 to 60 degrees up from he horizon instead of 35. I can't imagine Vega coming close to matching his twinkly description. That said, perhaps the time was a little earlier and the object was not as high as he thought it was. If that is the case, the Arcturus was close enough to the horizon for our atmosphere to cause the colors and twinkling he described. Occams Razor suggests this as a distinct possibility. Or perhaps he saw a you-foe! happy days and... starry starry nights! -- Cut like a knife, Flake like an axe, Break out the sax, Get you a life! Paine Ellsworth
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#15
September 15th 03, 01:44 PM
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"Jim Fisher" wrote...
in message ... "Painius" wrote in message news:EcX8b.141263 Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Naw! The poster stated it was 9:30 pm and the object was about 35 degrees up from the horizon. At 9:30 where he is, Arcturus would be very close if not on the horizon. At that time on that date, Arcturus was about 16 degrees up from the horizon. If you go out and look at it, which i did, you may easily see how someone might eyeball Arcturus and call it 30 or 35 degrees. It *does* appear a little higher. As you mention, Vega is much higher at that time and most probably not shimmering like Arcturus. As one other poster mentioned, it could have been Antares. Since Antares was down to the SW and since the poster said "west," i figured the most likely sparkler was Arcturus. And IIRC, Arcturus is just a tad brighter than Vega, isn't it? The brightest object in that portion of the sky at that time would probably be Vega but it would be more like 50 to 60 degrees up from he horizon instead of 35. I can't imagine Vega coming close to matching his twinkly description. That said, perhaps the time was a little earlier and the object was not as high as he thought it was. If that is the case, the Arcturus was close enough to the horizon for our atmosphere to cause the colors and twinkling he described. Occams Razor suggests this as a distinct possibility. Or perhaps he saw a you-foe! happy days and... starry starry nights! -- Cut like a knife, Flake like an axe, Break out the sax, Get you a life! Paine Ellsworth
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#16
September 16th 03, 03:08 AM
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"Painius" wrote in message news:nui9b.139697
At that time on that date, Arcturus was about 16 degrees up from the horizon. If you go out and look at it, which i did, you may easily see how someone might eyeball Arcturus and call it 30 or 35 degrees. It *does* appear a little higher. I just came in from a little gazing and realized my mistake. You are right. Arcturus is beautifully bright, twinkling, and is just as he described it at about the position and time he said it was. Unfortunately, I looked up his object in my Starry Night software and while I did change the location from Alabama to North Carloina, I failed to change the time from Central to Eastern. So, my copy of Starry Night has Arcturus setting at 9:30 when it actually doesn't set until 10:30 or 11:00 in hios time zone. Did that make sense? Stoopid computers. And IIRC, Arcturus is just a tad brighter than Vega, isn't it? Perhaps a tad and a half. I acquiesce.
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#17
September 16th 03, 03:08 AM
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"Painius" wrote in message news:nui9b.139697
At that time on that date, Arcturus was about 16 degrees up from the horizon. If you go out and look at it, which i did, you may easily see how someone might eyeball Arcturus and call it 30 or 35 degrees. It *does* appear a little higher. I just came in from a little gazing and realized my mistake. You are right. Arcturus is beautifully bright, twinkling, and is just as he described it at about the position and time he said it was. Unfortunately, I looked up his object in my Starry Night software and while I did change the location from Alabama to North Carloina, I failed to change the time from Central to Eastern. So, my copy of Starry Night has Arcturus setting at 9:30 when it actually doesn't set until 10:30 or 11:00 in hios time zone. Did that make sense? Stoopid computers. And IIRC, Arcturus is just a tad brighter than Vega, isn't it? Perhaps a tad and a half. I acquiesce.
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#18
September 18th 03, 05:50 PM
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My buddy saw it, he got information saying it might've been
some meteor.. is that even possible? On 2003-09-14, Painius wrote: wrote in message... ... No, that's not what it was.. it was a star or planet of sorts. As I said, it did not move over a period of 15 minutes, just a slight downward drift that followed the normal rotation of the night sky. It was 'twinkling' intensly, not flashing as an aircraft would. It was just very visable and quite noticable tonight from my location. Maybe there is a sky map of sorts I could check? Thanks, Cej 'Lo Cej -- Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Tonight, if the sky is clear, head out about the same time and look for the "Big Dipper." It'll be northwest or so. When you find the BD, follow the handle around and then straight south. If you soon come to the same object you saw last night, then it's Arcturus, one of the most beautiful and brightest stars in the sky... Arcturus is a little less than 37 light-years away. It's very large-- almost 70 times wider than our own star--and it shines with a luminosity of nearly 1200 of our Suns! The multicoloring happens a lot when stars, specially bright ones like Arcturus, get closer and closer to the horizon. They have more and more of Earth's atmosphere to penetrate, so their twinkling gets more and more beautiful! hth happy days and... starry starry nights!
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#19
September 18th 03, 05:50 PM
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My buddy saw it, he got information saying it might've been
some meteor.. is that even possible? On 2003-09-14, Painius wrote: wrote in message... ... No, that's not what it was.. it was a star or planet of sorts. As I said, it did not move over a period of 15 minutes, just a slight downward drift that followed the normal rotation of the night sky. It was 'twinkling' intensly, not flashing as an aircraft would. It was just very visable and quite noticable tonight from my location. Maybe there is a sky map of sorts I could check? Thanks, Cej 'Lo Cej -- Most likely the star Arcturus... here's what you can do... Tonight, if the sky is clear, head out about the same time and look for the "Big Dipper." It'll be northwest or so. When you find the BD, follow the handle around and then straight south. If you soon come to the same object you saw last night, then it's Arcturus, one of the most beautiful and brightest stars in the sky... Arcturus is a little less than 37 light-years away. It's very large-- almost 70 times wider than our own star--and it shines with a luminosity of nearly 1200 of our Suns! The multicoloring happens a lot when stars, specially bright ones like Arcturus, get closer and closer to the horizon. They have more and more of Earth's atmosphere to penetrate, so their twinkling gets more and more beautiful! hth happy days and... starry starry nights!
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