Strange star in the sky?

I can see this star in the sky. With just a quick glance it looks like a normal star. But when you focus on it you can see that its changing color pretty rapidly. Blue, Red, Green possibly and a gold yellow color. I have seen other people on the net talking about this. I even saw someone on ATS talking about it a while back. Im used to seeing the normal colored stars. There maybe more that behave this way.



So why is this star changing color? Is it even a star?

Heres a video of what it looks like.







[edit on 17-8-2009 by spaceman84]

where are you? because ive been looking at a star here with the same kinda qualities. its also the brightest object in the sky, alot brighter than the north star, and always in the same spot every night, i noticed it about a month ago.

@ above post

I live In Maryland. United States.

Star, and flag because I think this topic warrants more discussion.

I am familiar with what your talking about. I've heard things from Jupiter, to Venus, but the one I've seen doesn't track like they do. So WTF?

Next time Im outside I will try and count how many I can see. That is if theres more than one of them. Like I said it twinkles blue, red, green and back to a yellow gold color. But really fast.

Originally posted by spaceman84
@ above post

I live In Maryland. United States.

hmmm, im on the other side of the country....vegas....

Originally posted by spaceman84
Next time Im outside I will try and count how many I can see. That is if theres more than one of them. Like I said it twinkles blue, red, green and back to a yellow gold color. But really fast.

the one i see is just one, always in the same spot, always tracking the same way....

Is it possible that this is a large satellite in geosynchronous orbit? Come to think of it, could we even *see* such a satellite?

[EDIT] Maybe I mean a geostationary orbit.

If it's been in roughly the same place for a month, it doesn't sound like any sort of planet.

[edit on 8/17/2009 by chiron613]

Stars can twinkle in different colors, especially when they are low to the horizon. At this time of year there are two very bright stars visible in the western sky; Arcturus and Vega. Arcturus is known for displaying a lot of color.

It would be helpful to know your approximate location and the time and direction of your sighting.

Bet you a dollar it's Jupiter.

Kinda in the sourthern sky I bet.

Originally posted by 11b1p
where are you? because ive been looking at a star here with the same kinda qualities. its also the brightest object in the sky, alot brighter than the north star, and always in the same spot every night, i noticed it about a month ago.

The brightest celestial object in the sky right now, aside from the Moon, is in fact Venus.

There was a similar thread started back in February of this year (2009), with very similar "concerns" if you will, and it also occurred during a time period when Venus was nearing one of its brightest magnitudes (With extremely clear, crisp skies to boot).

I have been in a flat, unobstructed area for a while now, with views out to sea, and Venus is definitely the celestial object of greatest significance in our night sky (Again, aside from the Moon).

Originally posted by earth2
Bet you a dollar it's Jupiter.

Kinda in the sourthern sky I bet.

.

could be, i live in the sw part of vegas, and i always see it due s of me, i usually see it about 9pm ill 3-4 am after goes down the horizon. would jupiter be waaaaay brighter than the north star?

With a magnitude of (-2.42) Jupiter is currently about 55 times brighter than the north star (1.95).
www.1728.com...

Not really wanting to be churlish here, but do you think we would cut down the number of questions like this if we all downloaded and installed Stellarium?

Me and my dad saw something like that a week ago. Two days in a row!
A bright star that would change color from Red to blue to white-ish. But it also changed its position fast. Like less than an hour it was so away from where it was before.
I use Stellarium but i couldn't locate that star.

As Phage said, stars twinkle in different colors especially when they are low on horizon due to their light traveling through a lot more atmosphere as opposed to when they are directly above.

A phenomena astronomers call "bad seeing". It has to do with high altitude air currents. Some days it can be perfectly clear but you'd have such bad seeing that even the surface of the moon would be jittery.

Other resident astronomers are sure to give a better description of this phenomena, I am only a beginner myself. As for naming your star... I'd say Jupiter.

Respectfully, M.

Edit for inability to spell correctly.


[edit on 17-8-2009 by Manawydan]

I see this star all the time. Though it has only been recently. In the last 2 years or so. I will see if I can see it tonight. Also I would provide some more info like the direction I was looking but I dont have compass. But I can give the time. I can try and figure out whethers its North South East or west. But it might not be exact.

Also does anyone think this could be a space ship? Preferably an alien one?

I used to see a "star" in the sky everynight for weeks, sometimes more than others. It would changes color in the sky from red, green, and yellow.

I thought for the longest time it was a planet. Then I researched the 'net and came to this conclusion.

Chiron613, had it right.

GEOSAT satellite. The rotation is so fast, it is reflecting the sunlight and spinning at the same time, what you are seeing is actually the light bouncing off at very fast speeds. It is very big too. Looks brighter and bigger than almost everything in the sky.

Its not a planet. Planets don't change color. Stars "twinkle" from the atmosphere. Geostationary satellites are rapidly rotating, thus giving you the appearance of different colors, from the reflected light. They don't move fast across the sky like landsats' or other satellites. These stay put for a while.

Originally posted by earth2
Bet you a dollar it's Jupiter.

Jupiter, to the naked eye as well as binoculars and low powered telescopes, appears as white - no colors whatsoever.

1st of all does the star "twinkle" regardless of its changing colour?
you see only stars twinkle planets dont. Aslo try to locate the star in relation to a known constellation as it can then be asily looked upon by many if they knew where to look for it.