Twinkle What?

There is one 'star' in the clear night sky that is bright. But flickers more than the other. Also the colour channges while flickering red, bright yellow, white and hints of aqua.

Is this a star or planet.

Itts not cos of clouds or atmosphere as other stars near remain the same colour and dont flicker as much.

I think that is the planet Venus

It is called scintillation, caused by turbulence in the atmosphere.

Stars suffer from it due to being so far away and so little light reaching us.

Planets do not twinkle unless there is really high turbulence in the atmosphere, and even then, they don't twinkle much, so what you are seeing is most likely a star.

It would help if you could give us a location (direction, I can see you are in the UK) and time so we can narrow down which star it is you are looking at.

reply to post by rkingpin


If it's not Venus as mentioned, my guess would be...

Sirius

Venus rises in the east just before dawn. Being a planet, it usually doesn't twinkle.
Sirius rises right around sunset and, being the brightest star in the sky, often puts on quite a show.


If you could provide the general direction you're looking and the time of night it would be easier to nail it down.

OP, this is London, UK as of just a few minutes ago, facing South...look about right?

I saw the same thing yesterday. It was about 8:30 pm. South Florida. I guess it would be at about the 4:30 position in the sky with north being 12 o'clock. None of the other stars were twinkling nearly as much.

reply to post by crazyguy2012

That would be Sirius.
Seriously.

reply to post by rkingpin


could be Arcturus.
That thing goes off some night.

reply to post by ZeussusZ

At this time of year Arcturus is rising in the NE around midnight.

reply to post by Phage


Where I'm at it rises about 3am.
It would help if the OP pointed in some direction.

I`m going to agree with Phage that it`s Sirius. It really DOES look like `A Diamond In The Sky`.

i dont know how to point to it.

il use this app i found
play.google.com...#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5leGhpYml0c3R1ZGlvcy5Ecm9 pZFNreVZpZXciXQ..

anyway its to the left of those three stars are in a line always

reply to post by UberL33t


I was looking at that earlier when walking dogs but from manchester and i`d have to agree it was Sirius. i was facing south it would have been about 2am. It was definately sparkling tonight, to me it was a brilliant blue and red.

reply to post by rkingpin


Orion's belt.
Yup...Sirius
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ee6e42e8225a.jpg[/atsimg]

Oh, I didn't think it was an actual star from the description. I thought it was this crazy flashing "star" that I've seen recently, in the last few months, moving much more slowly than an airplane but definitely moving -- a quick google for "crazy flashing star red yellow green" or something helped me figure out that it was probably this:

www.nasa.gov...

An experimental solar sail that Nasa has in orbit. I can't find the details of why I figured out it was the sunjammer, but.... That's what I think.

reply to post by Solasis

The Solar Sail Demonstration will launch on a Falcon 9 as early as 2014.

www.nasa.gov...

It's the clear sky's of winter in the UK if your lucky, and that old faithful ufo star Sirius is at it again, some info here

stars-to-see-in-the-sky-tonight

These reports happen every year in the UK.

Yep, sounds like Sirius. It twinkles like crazy and flashes colours due to atmospheric currents. Planets don't usually twinkle, they shine with a steady light. Also, Jupiter and Venus are much brighter than Sirius or any other star.

There's a free and excellent planetarium software that tells you what's in the sky over your location: www.stellarium.org...

reply to post by Phage


To quote the internet,

Derp.

I think that's the first time I've personally been corrected by you, Phage. Thanks, hehe.