Can someone please go look at Sirius for me??

Hi All,

I'm in Northern VA and I'm out on my balcony enjoying this beautiful weather while it lasts... Anyway, from here I get a really good view of Orion. For some reason, Sirius is looking unusually bright, it actually caught my attention, I didn't realize what it was at first. Now I don't really know much about astronomy, but I'm learning! So is this normal for Sirius to be so freaking brilliant? Or is it just from my view of it... I was hoping someone could step outside and take look... I don't have a camera other than my smartphone and it can't pick up the stars.

While we're at it, could you look at the bottom left corner star of Orion, I think its Beutelgeuse if I'm reading Google Sky Map correctly. Does it have a red glow around it because it looks like it from here.

I'm reaching out because I sit out here staring at the sky all the time and neither of these things have stood out to me before. If there is an explanation I'd love of you could fill me in!

Thanks in Advance - Jai

Ok so once I was done posting this I looked back up in the sky and it is now completely cloud covered, it was completely clear like 5-10 minutes ago. Now I can't see Sirius or Orion at all.

reply to post by AnonyJai


Yes she is very bright right now....very clear sky skies after lots of rain

reply to post by Starwise


But not abnormally bright?

Thanks for your help!

Cloudy here, but Sirius is a bright star normally.

Betelgeuse is very unstable and can go supernova anytime -- in astronomical terms. Tonight or say, a thousand years.

I just went outside now in response to your post...I am in North Carolina...Heavy cloud cover here and couldn't see anything amiss and couldn't see any stars. Just the light reflected off the clouds from nearby cities.

I just recently read something about a star that could go supernova anytime around there.. Ive had many observations ive wanted to make recently but whether from ChemTrails or freak weather our observations of both the daytime and nightime sky have been completely blocked for almost 2 days.. but anyone notice the 3 day full moon with a red trim? EDIT- Yeah it was betelgeuse i was refering to.. i guess.. ey, just made a trip outside in ur name.. an to shovel the walk.. BTW in central IL.. but anyways.. complete white out .. and like the past two nights they only thing u can see is city lights.. anyone else in the country having this problem? Me and my gf went web cam hunting last night just to try to see if the moon was still uber full ... found none where u could actually make out anything thru the cover of the clouds and 1 daytime in the alpes where there were "things" floating in the sky.. .. gimme some reassurance guys.. i can see how 3 days of darkness could get to some people..

Sirius has been getting brighter,
It would,
Considering it could possibly be the second star in our binary.

Highly interesting theory. , Quite possibly the golden age of legend.

reply to post by Chamberf=6


Seriously? Uh oh, better go look this one up. Do you know if its normally red?

This is all to the naked eye by the way, no telescope or anything. Really wish I had one right now...

reply to post by tsawyer2


Thanks for going to check it out! It seems like the cloud cover is moving through pretty quickly, Sirius is back in sight so hopefully I can see the rest soon.

reply to post by MalusLupus


I haven't been able to see the moon since the night before last, I guess its on the other side of my building now? Anyway the other night it was ridiculously bright too, didn't notice the red around it though but it was a passing glance.

Thanks for the info!

reply to post by AzureSky


I've been reading on ATS for a few months but I hadn't run across anything about Sirius or Beutelgeuse so I am definitely going to look some stuff up now.

Originally posted by MalusLupus
I just recently read something about a star that could go supernova anytime around there.. Ive had many observations ive wanted to make recently but whether from ChemTrails or freak weather our observations of both the daytime and nightime sky have been completely blocked for almost 2 days.. but anyone notice the 3 day full moon with a red trim?

Nope, before it got cloudy yesterday night I'd been out with my telescope the rest of the days of the week. The moon was completely normal here in PA. When I saw Sirius last though, it DID seem brighter than it normally is. This was maybe two days ago. Then again, this was the first time I watched it before the moon came up so I figured maybe that's what made it look so much more vibrant. As for Betelgeuse, when I've seen it it's all been business as usual. I don't think it's any closer to supernova today than it will be in another 100 years which is a shame because I really want to be able to witness that.

reply to post by AnonyJai


The bottom left corner star of Orion is Saiph...the upper left is Betelguese.

The upper right is Bellatrix, and and lower right is Rigel.

reply to post by tsawyer2


Sorry I was describing it from my left, just looking up at the sky.

reply to post by AnonyJai


No problem, just wanted to make sure we were talking about the right star.

Wish it wasn't cloudy here though so I could make an observation.

reply to post by AnonyJai


No, not abnormally.Its usually the brightest star(s) in the night sky compared to Jupiter or Venus. Oh and I just got the book Sirius Mystery by Robert Temple, so far very awesome

I too would love to make an observation but it's since gotten cloudy here and it was raining buckets a while ago. I hope I get some clear skies again soon because I have to return back to university Tuesday and then I won't be able to have my telescope because it's just too much to lug around. I'm sure Sirius and Betelgeuse are both fine though (from our perspective). I don't expect any drastic changes would've occured quite that quickly unless something's been wrong with both of them for a long time and the information is just now traveling to us.

Clouds never cleared enough to view B again, but Sirius is gorgeous twinkling incredibly bright. Hope it clears up so you can see it. Really pretty.

reply to post by AnonyJai


Actually we never did see it.. AFTER we had a full 3 days of the biggest full moon ives ever seen.. we wanted to see if it was up for a fourth.. this proving that somehting next to the sun could be reflecting extra light or some such theroy of the time.. we ended up on KErmIt after searching webcams half the night.. KErmIt Satelite mission 151

and actually if u go look.. its still got a reddish hue.. near where the sliver is supposed to be shadowed

You can look yourself by going to STELLARIUM and plugging in your location, time and date.....and see all kinds of awesome things above you


Also, check out this thread for more links...


ETA....my post sounds rude how it is written not my intention....just giving you something you can use anytime