flashing "star" in southern sky

Originally posted by mortalengine

Originally posted by disownedsky
reply to post by Quazi176

 

A decent pair of binoculars should be sufficient to determine if there's any shape or angular size to the object. I have a cheap but adequate pair of binoculars always with me in the car, and a respectable pair in the house in a drawer by the door.

But I dont think you guys are 100% understanding what I'm saying, it was flashing, for instance... it's black... there's nothing... then beep! and its gone..... then again later... beep and its gone... you wouldnt have seen anything with a telescope or with binocs, it was simply a flash the size of a star, but a bright flash that would catch your eye, which is how I spotted it by accident.

The ones I see blink much, much, faster. I know the ones I see are probably stars. It's just their not like any I've ever seen and their brighter than your average star. They certainly give off more colorful "lights" than what I have ever seen. I wouldn't have even broguht it up if these weren't so different or new to me. That's for all the people that like to give wise cracks about they are just NORMAL stars.

Yes, Yes, I also know that it depends on the atmoshere as to the colors you see, but once again, if that was the case I would have noticed them before and I wouldn't have even posted.

Originally posted by mortalengine[

Stoked that you've seen the same, but are you sure its the same ? I'm not talking about wobbling lights or flickering RGB either, It's like someone flicking a light switch on for a millisecond, then off, every 20 seconds, then about 1 minute without action, then 30 seconds... then perhaps 15 seconds.. etc. There was no star there where the flashing was coming from...

I wouldnt post about any old thing, this got me spooked and totally stoked at the same time

j

[edit on 24-1-2008 by mortalengine]

[edit on 24-1-2008 by mortalengine]

Ok your seeing something totaly different from me then. I post not to far above this one about mine being faster blinking, not like yours.

When I post the comment about me being in the South, I didnt remember where you said you were at sorry.

Hello! I witnessed the exact same thing tonight here in Finland. I was out with my binculars to watch the sky for a while and was looking at the Orion nebula,
Andromeda among other things. I was scanning the sky slowly and just west / southwest of Orion I saw a very quick flash, like a strobe. That cought my attention of course so I kept looking at the same area. Shortly there was the flash again... and again, so I decided to count the interval and came to roughly 20 seconds. It was also moving very slowly, say 1/10 or slower of the normal speed of a moving satellite. I watched it for maybe 10 more minutes and the flashing and movement was pretty constant. Then it got too cold so I went home, googled for "flashing light every 20 seconds" and found this forum

I am a believer in UFOs but I do know some things could be explained to.

I know a Helicopter with a spotlight could do this. I have seen these from a great distance and it would appear that they simply dont move at all after about 5-10 mins, I realized that years ago when I saw that. If thats what it was or not I dont know, but its a possibility. Helicopters at times can look alot like UFOs because I have seen some cases where it look like they stay in 1 spot for a long time, since they so far away you cant even hear them.

reply to post by mortalengine

We noticed the same flashing light (like a star), not moving here in Centurion.
We went on the internet today to find out if anyone saw this before and got to your posting. We are going to check tonight if this flashing star is there again.
Contact me on [email protected]

Regards
H

satellite, bangs head on table....

reply to post by mortalengine


Hi i recently had the same experience with a very high flashing light observed one night on Stradbroke Island off the coast of Queensland.
The light had the luminosity of a faint star and flashed every seven seconds, a friend timed it. I thought it to be a stationary satellite.

Ralph

In order to eliminate the satellite possibility you'd have to check the time of night when you saw the flashing light and measure it's position relative to where the sun was at the time. If the light you saw wasn't in line of sight with the sun then it couldn't be a reflection off a satellite.

I have seen the same phenomenon is the eastern sky in autumn usually. Very fast flash sequence of reds, blues, whites, purples.
Some call them 'twinklers'. I watched them 'it' numerous times for a hour at a time. Mostly stationary. Or move subtly occasionally. Definately do not track expected star/planetary rotations.

reply to post by mortalengine


Hello Gents,

I am sitting here in Heron, Montana where I finally have access to a computer. (Yes... a clothes hanger in the boonies does give internet reception just fine) I've been spending the past 20 minutes searching for some information on the same phenomenon that I witnessed last night in Bayview, Idaho. So… this is the raw details.

In Bayview, Idaho: Lat: 47.98N, Lon: 116.56W
Looking 184 Degrees Azimuth towards the southern hemisphere
Shooting an approximate 28 Degrees elevation.
First serious observation: 8:45pm

My girlfriend and I were curiously looking at this extremely bright star in the general location as described above. When the light disappeared completely for 5 minutes then reappeared, I started the process of elimination. Geostationary satellite? International Space Station? Big shiny rotating asteroid?

Sparing the dry humor, I’ll get to what I recorded in my note book. I recorded over a period of 5 hours starting at 8:45pm, a series of bright flashes from this stationary “star” with random intervals of complete darkness. I confirm the “complete darkness” with the naked eye as well as an old star scope that I had glued to it. I’m pushing about 20x on the star and can attest that I saw the following under close observation over several hours.

. .. O .

Please take me seriously here, but the periods represent typical stars. The O represents the bright object that pulsated from the brightest star I’ve ever seen to no visible light source.
The stars were centered in the middle of the O as if they were rotating on a plane of ecliptic, and the O was what it was… a completely spherical light source that over 5 hours… moved with the stars…. Not against them in any way shape or form. The color remained a solid white with little to no deviation. I put it through different lenses to try to get a closer look… but all I ended up with was a clear cut solid white orb with the same star configuration on each side.

Troubleshooting with the mind: If a geostationary satellite would rotate slowly while still in the suns direct light, could it truly maintain a perfect position with the stars over a 5 hour period? With the sun on the other side of the planet, how could the satellite continue to be illuminated? And IF A SATELLITE…..at my Lat and Long…it is placed far in the Southern Hemisphere. How can another fellow star gazer in “South Africa, on the Western Cape near Cape Town” see the star in his own southern hemisphere?

Questions to ponder:

Is a pulsar actually visible to the naked eye to the point of being completely the brightest star in the sky?

I am stumped… lost… and to be honest… very disturbed to have witnessed this and not logically find a explanation on my own or through my searching on the internet.

However, I am glad that I might be seeing the same damn star that you gents might be seeing.

I’ll check back with more information as well as put myself up for personal contact for discussion and further research.

-Sam
(208) 755-0247

reply to post by mortalengine


ok im not a lunatic, and im not stupid, but im sure about what I have just seen. I just came home stepped out of my car and by chance looked up. First I saw what im almost positive was a satellite orbiting because it was as small as a star and dimmer than most. I followed this object until it got close to the horizon and I could no longer see it. Then soon after I saw something almost exactly what you say you have seen. I live in the U.S no where close to where you said you have seen this puzzling event. All it was was a white flash brighter than a star but the same size as one. At first I thought it was an airplane because it is a logical explanation but soon after that thought I saw it again. Had not moved and flashed for a moment. I thought the same thing as it was if someone was taking a picture. I have no explanation for this occurrence and to be honest I am one hundred percent freaked out, but also I am one hundred percent completely enthralled and need answers. I have been watching the area as to where i seen the "blinking star" but It has not occured again. I really cant explain this, it is cool. It happened south of the Constellation Orion, which I am sure can be explained by the difference in the places we seen this. I am almost positive it was the same thing you claimed to have seen.

reply to post by mortalengine


Good Morning- I have just seen your post re a flashing satellite. I operate an optical tracking station in Cape Town and speciallize in observing geostationary satellites and yes, there are several geostationary satellites that flash bright enough to be seen with the naked eye - in particular the Soviet GORIZONT satellites. To positively identify which one you saw would require more detailed information but one Gorizont appears in the wnorth western part of the sky at about 40 odd degrees elevation from Cape Town and flashes the entire night - at least when Ive watched it long enough. There is also another bright Gorizont flasher low in the Cape Town eastern sky.
Hope this helps
Greg Roberts

I suggest you post your query to the SeeSat forum- do a google search on SeeSat -its free- and Im sure you will get several replies as this is where the visual satellite observers hang out.

reply to post by mortalengine

I live in NE Texas, and for the past couple of nights have seen the same thing, in the Southeast direction as well. I came inside to see if anyone else had anything to say about it. I thought it could possibly be a satellite, but I just can't see a satellite strobing different colors like this....No clue!

i bet it was sirius

sirius is a twin star system, that to us looks like a single star to the human eye

it kindof blinks red/blue, even on backyard telescopes

Monday, Jan 19 about 7:45. It was a cloudless night here in Eastern Oahu, Hawaii. I had been looking at Venus, then looking for the Milky Way.

When I looked up at Orion, I saw a flash of light. I waited, and soon it flashed again. It was positioned "above" Orion's Left "shoulder" (West-North-West+-) or the right side of Orion as you look at it (Orion was lying on his right side).

When it blinked again I began to count. I counted to seven between blinks, some were dimmer, some brighter. I went inside to try to find a place to report it or look it up if it was a satellite, to no avail, for half an hour. When I went back outside it was no longer visible (8:15). It did NOT appear to be moving, or, it may have been moving VERY slowly. I've watched satellites before, seen them traveling West to East and North to South. I know there are geostationary satellites. but I've never seen a blinking one before.

My best guess is a rocket booster that became geostationary (since others have seen it in the same position) and as it turns end-over-end it also spins and some sides may reflect better. Then perhaps it 'disappeared" as it entered Earth's Shadow?

Does anyone know where we can find out more? Ask questions?
I'm fascinated!

Jan 20th, 11:30pm CST central TX. I was sitting outside and just staring at Orion and noticed an orange flash just below Orion's belt and halfway between the belt and Orion Nebulae. I first just dismissed it as nothing. I then saw it again and told my wife to look. I started counting. It flashed again at 25 seconds. She saw it. We watched it flash about every 20-25 seconds for about 10-12 flashes. The part that was weird was the flash occurred in several different places. At first it was in between the belt and nebulae, but then it moved towards the belt. We both noticed it move. We both thought it must be a satellite. Then the next time it flashed it was much closer to the nebulae. this was a little weird again. The next flash occurred far east of the belt and then flashed again in the same relative position. The next flash went back to the middle, and then the next towards the belt. At this point we are both seeing the locations and comparing our visuals. We both see the same thing. Then, it just stops. We no longer see it. WE sat for another 20 minutes looking for it again. I would love to know what this is. I don't think it is a spinning satellite as they stop the spinning after it is stable. Also, it moved positions...... This is what really threw me. I really don't know about a UFO, but it was definately something....

reply to post by waveguide3


I tried all the websites referred to, and none were helpful to me.

They were intesting sites, but I couldn't figure how to get data for what I saw. I know every large object in orbit is tracked, but don't know how to look up what I saw. (Technologically impaired?)

Any more help?

To the OP.

You describe almost exactly a sighting I had with a second witness over a one hour period in a location I had returned to only because of a previous, completely different, seemingly unexplainable sighting.

I have returned there once since and, together with 3 others, witnessed another, totally different and even more spectacular, seemingly unexplainable sighting.

It is interesting to read of the possible rotating geosynchronous orbit satellite explanation but in my case I would have to discount this due to the location and brightness of the "flashes".

Obviously I could be wrong and I would welcome any serious information on exactly how bright a satellite could appear.

The intensity of the irregular flash was far greater than the brightest star I have ever seen, appeared to be far larger than a satellite would appear and did not seem to ebb or wain in intensity as a revolving light or source reflective object would do but rather simply on or off as with a switch.

Originally posted by chunder- - - - I would welcome any serious information on exactly how bright a satellite could appear.

The brightest reflections from satellites seen from Earth are those produced by the Iridium constellation. This is an array of dozens of telecommunication satellites, each bearing large relective solar panels. They rotate at precise speeds so their reflections of the Sun as seen from any location is predictable.
The most popular way to get these predictions is to register with the Heavens Above Website. You enter your observing coordinates or your hometown and it does the rest.

As to how bright, well the Iridium flares can be very bright indeed. They vary of course, depending on whether you get the full face-on reflection or just the edge of it. The maximum is about magnitude -8. When you see one of those flash, it's very impressive.

Magnitudes are expressed as negatives for very bright objects. Venus for example can reach -4 or more. The ISS can be of similar brightness to Venus, but often fainter. The full Moon is usually around -12 and the Sun is -26. Each digit of magnitude is about 2.5 times brighter than the previous one. See Wikipedia Optical Magnitude for more details.

The Iridiums don't flash every few seconds however. You only see a single flash from a particular satellite at any location. Other satellites do flash with regular or irregular patterns. These tend to be in low Earth orbits (about 300 miles up), so move across the sky fairly quickly. Whilst the geostationary bodies don't appear to move significantly, they are over 20,000 miles away and exceedingly faint. There are arguments as to whether such satellites could be seen flashing even under ideal conditions. There is only a very limited timeframe in the year when geostationaries can be glimpsed by reflection. It needs a favourable Sun/Earth/Satellite/location orientation.

From your description, I don't believe what you saw was either an Iridium flare or a geostationary satellite.There is more likelyhood of it being a favourable pulsar (I'm joking of course).

WG3

reply to post by waveguide3


Excellent, thanks for the info.

It's very difficult to guess the magnitude of the flashes that I saw, maybe about the same as the strobe lights of a large jet flying at 2000 ft in a clear sky.

Bright enough to cause someone who wasn't looking at the sky at the time to notice it and say what was that.

I guess remains a UAP !