Strange star in the sky

reply to post by Chadwickus

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Good suggestion Mr.Wickus.

Although I use Stellarium and a telescope I'm still just getting my feet wet with this astrology stuff. Next clear night I will get a time/location/picture and hopefully some of the pro's can figure this problem out. It most definitely is not a planet/satellite/comet, that I know from first hand visual experience (700 mm lens with 8mm eyepiece=87X).

Wickus if you want to throw a guess out, I can give you a rough location for the mysterious (IMO) light. Fire up Stellarium and load Toronto as your location. Change your time to 2am, then look in the SW. 3 stars (Pollux,Regulus,Procyon) should stick out at around 5 - 15 degrees ALT. Make a triangle out of those 3 stars and the mystery star should be somewhere in there (at around 2am).

Keep in mind that is a very rough estimate and it was 1 - 2 weeks ago that I was observing this particular star (although I've seen it many times).

Peace




[edit on 13-2-2009 by TheRealDonPedros]

reply to post by TheRealDonPedros

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Sirius is pretty bright bright at that time.

I'm assuming you mean 2am your time, which is 4pm my time.

Here's a screen shot from Ottawa, couldn't get Toronto but they're reasonably close anyway.

Ok, so has sirius always been visable? because this object appeared a few months ago, its visable from around 8-9pm until around 3am.

here she is, i do have a movie clip but its wobbly as hell "due to my hand moving"

il try see if i can convert it somehow but the picture is better and its zooomed in all the way

pretty aint she "tho blury" and not true colour thats the object thats bright as heck in the sky ill take some shots of the vid if i can.

"just to add this is BLURY picture of the object!! its a little greey blue thing at times"

still cool tho!



[edit on 13-2-2009 by theresult]

Most definitely not Sirius. Download the newest version of Stellarium and Toronto is a pre-loaded destination. I understand were in different time zones, but when you type in "Toronto" it changes to EST. Siruis is below the horizon at 2am so it would be impossible to see. I did say I'm just getting my feet wet but I do have most of the stars located around Orion's Belt memorized.

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and has been since the dawn of man.
Its a steady white glow with the odd blue tinge, through a telescope its much bluer and a real beauty to look at.

This one is red, blue and white, kind of like a police cruiser with its cherries on(except light years away).

Peace

reply to post by TheRealDonPedros

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Ah ok, no worries.

Will have to update it seems

reply to post by theresult

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Yes thats what i seeing, and yes it often seems to have a blue green tint occasionally, other times its very mild white orange tint.

reply to post by Chadwickus

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I actually live in between N.Falls and Toronto but St.Catharines doesnt have a pre-programmed location with Stellarium. I just threw Toronto out for you, because its nearby and accessible through both our programs without resorting to lat/long co-ordinates.

Just a heads up, in no way do I think this is Niburu or a GFL mothership (not that I'm not open to the possibility of those things). It hasnt got any closer/bigger since I saw it for the first time a year ago and through a telescope it acts/looks (doesnt get bigger/closer, just clearer) just like a star does (minus the red/blue/white twinkles).

Thanks for the quick reply Wickus.

Peace

reply to post by Merkabah

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This one is red, blue and white, kind of like a police cruiser with its cherries on

that description is spot on!! it looks like that on my vid its going all crazy colours "i know about atmopheric affects" but still.. that thing is bright a mofo

ill try get some shots of it later

reply to post by Merkabah

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If the picture TheResult took was with his camera (not a telescope) then I'm pretty positive that is Saturn.

I'm not sure where you live Merkebah, but in Toronto Saturn would've been visible just below the moon to the left for the past few nights at around 9 o'clock.

I can't really think of another orangey one other than Aldabran that would stand out to you, and its small and insignificant.

Peace

I have seen it , too and it has only been around since about last fall. When there are no other stars out, (and i live in the country and see lots of stars each nite) but if it's overcast and there are no other stars, this one still shines bright as ever. It is in the the southwest sky.

I will say this, I live near an army base (redstone federal) and there has been more regular plane (jet) activity in that direction than I have ever seen before.

The star does twinkle, and is brighter than anything I have ever seen.

reply to post by phushion

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Yes, I have noticed that one for a couple of months now. I do admit, I haven't seen the multiple colour one. On Sunday heading up onto a large hill Bestwood Country Park, Nottingham, UK Which has an unrestricted city view, though we are there for photography of a different kind.
see thread www.abovetopsecret.com...'

I'll be sure to look and take photographs of the star/object, whilst the team and I are there.

reply to post by theresult

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I would say that is a planet. Which one I wouldn't know. It appears if the upper right corner is in shadow.

The north star (Polaris) is far from the brightest star in the sky. As a matter of fact, its magnitude is only about 2. Its main claim to fame is that it happens to be directly north on the celestial sphere to within 1 degree. Other than that, its pretty unassuming.

reply to post by Hellish-D

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Hellish-D is correct. Many people assume Polaris is the brightest star but it's pretty mediocre. I live in the southern US and I have a number of higher end telescopes and a CCD camera. I've not noticed anything unusual in my area but tonight if the clouds cooperate I'll take a look and snap some photos if possible. I'll have to check Saturn's track here in my area but I can tell you that Venus has been putting on quite the show for the past month or so. Check out my daylight venus photo thread if you're interested.

OP i dunno if your seeing the same thing i'm seeing but this star i see EVERY NIGHT when i look in the sky anyway whenever you can see stars i see this huge bright one, is it the north star? because its ALWAYS THERE first one i see at night, but i never remember the EfFER being so big like this star you can clearly tell its wayyyyy bigger than the others. like the others twinkle yeah maybe look 1/4 of a millimetre then this bad boy is like a whole milimetre wide in my field of view. its there every night i dont have a telescope but i can take a picture of it. hell i went to disney when i was about 15 and it followed me there lol well you know what i mean. im 19 now just turned on saturday. havent stopped seeing it.

no matter where i am if its night and i look up i don't have to look for more than 10 seconds and i find it. whenever the sky is clear enough for stars

reply to post by AndreDC

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Take a photo of it if you can and if anyone can give rough coordinates I'll do my best to get some video and stills this weekend. An example of what I call "observers bias" is my wife has never used a scope until she met me. Now she is more aware of the night sky and is constantly "discovering" objects she never noticed before. I'm not saying that as a derogative but just as an observation.

I love to use my scopes and would be happy to assist anyone just starting out or someone without the gear who would like photos or videos. Just let me know

it is visible in Idaho in the southern sky it is somewhat oblong and blinks several colors red-blue-gold kinda like sirius but I don't think its sirius. don't know what it is thought it was a supernova judging by its size I hope it isn't close.

reply to post by Angel One

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I didn't think about a new supernova. But I've not seen anything about it on space.com and other sites. Let's do some checkin'