Red Green and Amber flashing lights in the sky, page 4

reply to post by peskyhumans

---

It would help to know the direction and time.
In the meantime you can download this free program: Stellarium

[edit on 11-10-2008 by Phage]

Originally posted by peskyhumans
Phage - in regards to the scintillation/twinkling the way I was taught is that twinkling is the little "rays" that stars emit when you look at them, that happens because they release their own light, where as planets dont emit rays because their basically just mirrors, reflecting light, and will just appear to be little dots.

It wasn't untill a couple years back when I noticed this "blinking star" that I had ever seen what astronomers describe as scintillation (color changing). I would like to ask you though, if scintillation is caused by wind or dust why wouldn't all the stars in my sky scintillate? Im just seeing one, and its constantly.

Thanks for the feedback!

You are probably looking at Vega, the second brightest star in the sky.

Planets actually do twinkle but the effect is much less noticeable than with stars. Stars, because they are so distant, appear as a point source of light. Planets are, from our point of view, much bigger than stars. The scintillation effect doesn't cover the whole planet, but it does cover the whole star.

Scintillation does occur with all stars but the brighter the star is, the more noticeable the effect. Watch other stars very carefully and you'll see it.

en.wikipedia.org...(astronomy)

reply to post by azureskys

---

Polaris is not visually noteworthy (by brightness) at all. It's about the 48th brightest star in the night sky. It is noteworthy because it marks the celestial north pole and it appears to hardly move at all during the night. Polaris will always be seen in relatively the same area of the night sky no matter the time. It is simple to find if you can also see the constellation Ursa Major. Check the external diagram below.



Are you sure you're looking northwest? From what I can tell, all stars in the northwest sky appear to move closer to the horizon (lower) as the night gets later. The star Vega would be very visible looking northwest at 10:30pm, but i don't think it would appear to rise as time went by; it would actually appear to lower. If you're looking north; a star would have to be east of north (and Polaris) to appear to rise as it gets later in the evening. That's why I'm a little confused about your directions. Are you sure you didn't mean northeast? Because if you meant northeast; the star Capella fits the description of what you are seeing at 10:30pm. Capella is the 5th brightest star in the sky. It is very noticeable, and is almost 6 times brighter than Polaris. Capella will also appear to rise as it gets later in the night. You can locate it by extending a line from the two stars that make up the handle of Ursa Major. The external diagram below is kinda hard to follow but it should give an idea of what I mean.

reply to post by leeza

---

Leeza, cool pics. What time and in what direction do you see this flashing object? When you were taking those great shots of the moon, where was the flashing object in relation to the moon?

Did you see the video clip posted by waveguide3 on page 2 in this thread?
Twinkling Star
It looks pretty wild huh? But it's just a star seen through a large telescope while messing with the focus. It certainly appears to be moving too, but it is not.

[edit on 15-10-2008 by Boognish]

reply to post by jwood1440

---

It wouldn't be a mystery if you would simply post the time and direction you saw the star. It would be very easy to figure out what it is.

Originally posted by Boognish
reply to post by leeza

---

Leeza, cool pics. What time and in what direction do you see this flashing object? When you were taking those great shots of the moon, where was the flashing object in relation to the moon?

Did you see the video clip posted by waveguide3 on page 2 in this thread?
Twinkling Star
It looks pretty wild huh? But it's just a star seen through a large telescope while messing with the focus. It certainly appears to be moving too, but it is not.

[edit on 15-10-2008 by Boognish]

It was between 8:30-9:00 p.m
The moon was in the east, & the star was in the west, so if I looked left there was the moon and when I looked right there was the star.

I'll go check out that link

That is really cool, I would love to play with a telescope, My MIL
has one, maybe I could borrow it for a few days.

[edit on 16-10-2008 by leeza]

Aliens Among Us ...Video
  Posted 9 days ago with 65 member flags

Moon: inexplicable phenomena. Luna Cognita video.
  Posted 18 days ago with 60 member flags

UFOs \'Escort\' Mexican Aircraft - Radar Confirmed.
  Posted 12 days ago with 31 member flags

The Edge of Reality - Updated Report on the Illinois Police UFO case, January 5th, 2000.
  Posted 6 days ago with 28 member flags

The Aurora, Texas UFO Incident (1897)
  Posted 3 days ago with 27 member flags

Jacques Vallee: Implications of UFO Phenomena - Thinking Allowed.
  Posted 2 days ago with 22 member flags

1/28/2012 craft in sky From Puerto Rico - Need help getting more info!!
  Posted 7 days ago with 21 member flags

UFO above Wadden Sea
  Posted 11 days ago with 14 member flags

Newest topics, updated in real-time:

Newest topics getting flags, in real-time:

Newest topics getting replies, in real-time: