Unexplainable in the Sky

Hello all,
I noticed something very strange last night in the sky. It must have been around 11:30 pm Eastern Standard time that I went out on my deck to let my dog out when I thought I saw a plane coming from the distance from the East. I waited for about 20 minutes but the object did not move from its position in the sky. I do believe it was a star as the sky was filled with lots of them last night but as I observed this I noticed it was changing colors other than white, almost as a orange/reddish then white, then a green blusish then white, but not more than a split second would you see the colors changing in the star. Is it possible that there is an object heading for our planet that is millions of miles away and thats why it seems to be not moving and the colors are the gases I am seeing as it moves towards the earth in space?? I am not much of an astronomer thats why I posted this for our professionals here on ATS to make some sort of light of this for myself and my wife.

Thanks ,

It probably a star whose light was being disturbed by atmospheric turbulence, especially if the star you observed was close or in proximity to the horizon.

the only bright objects about that high, around that time would have been Deneb (almost Southeast) and Capella (just past Northeast.) other than that there's not too much in the way of bright objects there at that time.

Flashing lights? what a about a satellite? If you live out a ways you can really see quite a few.

Originally posted by Godsent
Flashing lights? what a about a satellite? If you live out a ways you can really see quite a few.

Satellites move.

My vote goes for bright star/planet.
It's normal for stars to blink in all colors near horizon.

I agree here, it is common for lights low to the horizon to SCINTILLATE due to the large amount of dense air the light travels. Lights overhead do not have to travel through as much atmosphere and scintillate less. I can see airplanes on approach to Phoenix waaaay out. I am guessing sixty miles or more. They appear motionless for quite a long time, but if you check with binoculars you will notice the green, red, and white navigational lights blinking.

Originally posted by Der Kapitan
It probably a star whose light was being disturbed by atmospheric turbulence, especially if the star you observed was close or in proximity to the horizon.

I was going to say the same thing.

yeah, I'd agree with the light being distorted by our atmosphere. If you pay close attention, many stars have the same effect.

I think iv seen this in the last few nights,basically it just looks like a star but its the brightest star in the sky and it does change colour maybe redish/orangey now and again but i havent thought it was wierd as i just thought it was the north star. I just thought it could be the atmosphere then again why arent all the stars like this?
It probably wont be the same thing we see as im in England and i guess your somewhere in the US so i dont think this could be the same thing we see.

Originally posted by markjaxson
I think iv seen this in the last few nights,basically it just looks like a star but its the brightest star in the sky and it does change colour maybe redish/orangey now and again but i havent thought it was wierd as i just thought it was the north star. I just thought it could be the atmosphere then again why arent all the stars like this?

Nothing strange in those colors, in fact star can show literally in every color.


Stability of atmosphere affects greatly to this, also light of those stars' in farther from horizon doesn't have to go through so much of atmosphere which decreases this effect.

Also you better check "seeing".
reference.allrefer.com...

I saw the same object, it's way too huge to be a star, it could be a supernova, I'm not sure, I'm not much of an astronomer, but I do know the night sky above Los Angeles and this thing outshines airplanes passing over head and stands out solidly against the orange glowing skyline. I observed it for an hour, and it did not move. I think you guys are being hasty in discounting this. It may be something mundane, but it is out of the ordinary.

now this is interesting cause i too saw the light you speak of, let me explain my counts: First, i live in the country in texas, so i got virtually no light polution on my 10 acres of land.

Time: 4:30 AM - go outside to let dog out, have a ciggerette, notice a EXTREMELY bright light in the sky, southeast, about 10-15 degrees off the horizon id say, assumed it was a plane but it didnt move.

(it was a orangish / redish white color) no flickering of colors like you said, im with them on atmospheric disturbance.

4:59 AM: after talking to friends online about it i go back outside to see if it was there, it was but it was about 20 degrees off the horizon id assume.

IT WAS NOT a satellite, i see satilites all the time, this was way to big, also way bigger then the north / brighter then the north star, thought it might be a planet and left it alone, however i had doubts it was a planet because ive seen planets befor and they didnt seem that close / bright to me.....

now as for a star, i dunno unless it was a supernova, never seen one of those so theres a possibility it was... i would however like to know my self what it could have been.


- - UPDATE - -

I just went outside to see if it was there seeing as its 4:19am the next day, it is there, still redish orangish white...... flickering due to atmospheric disturbance, but not any blushish colors....

It is about 15-20 degrees off the horizon....

Also it doesnt seem to be as bright as last night, although it still is the brightest light in the sky.

Any ideas?

[edit on 24-9-2004 by eXtenz]

[edit on 24-9-2004 by eXtenz]

There is one other possibility that I can think of.
Thats if there were no stars or planets "scheduled" there at that time of night.

It could occur if you had a temperature inversion.
Two layers of air, different temperatures.
The boundry between these layers is tight, compact.

The boundry can also function like a mirror, reflecting AND refracting (hence the color) light from just over the horizon. I've never actually seen this.
And I'm desperately looking for nice pic somewhere..But I bet if you google the term "spooklights" you might find something

Normally I write these sorts of things off as a plane approaching from a distance, or stars pulsating ie: quasars, atmospheric interference, but I saw something similar the other night which seriously could not have been a star, meteorite, satellite, plane, helicopter etc. It tended to slowly move back and forwards, and would grow dim to the point where I had difficulty seeing it, then grow WAY brighter than anything in the sky, almost as bright as a helicopter seach beam, which is what I originally thought it was, but it was way too high in the sky for a helicopter seach beam to be of any use, and grew REALLY dim then REALLY bright in fairly regular intervals... strange stuff

First off i would like to say Its my first time back for about a year!

Back on the topic. I have not seen this yet. But tonight i will go outside to see if i can see it. Personally i can mabey say is probably a star being distorted by the atmosphere, a planet, or mabey a star going supernova. Has anyone taken a telescope to the star? Even a basic one would give a better look at it. If i can spot it tonight ill pull out my telescope and have a look

Originally posted by eXtenz

4:59 AM: after talking to friends online about it i go back outside to see if it was there, it was but it was about 20 degrees off the horizon id assume.
- - UPDATE - -

I just went outside to see if it was there seeing as its 4:19am the next day, it is there, still redish orangish white...... flickering due to atmospheric disturbance, but not any blushish colors....

It is about 15-20 degrees off the horizon....

Also it doesnt seem to be as bright as last night, although it still is the brightest light in the sky.

Any ideas?

[edit on 24-9-2004 by eXtenz]

[edit on 24-9-2004 by eXtenz]

Well let me see now, according to this sky map for El Paso TX, around 4:30 am, you should be seeing either Saturn or Venus. Here's a pic of your sky in the eastern direction. I think you can figure out which one's Venus and which is Saturn.

i see so the changing colors would be the 2 planets shifting back and forth a little? Am i right or wrong?

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov... 9/22

Then the next day. 9/23

sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...