a reply to:
HextiraRipply
We have a clear, unobstructed view of the triangle from all angles on the property, and have been watching it nightly for months. I had never heard of
it before, so I looked it up to familiarise myself with its typical "behavior" in the sky, and found some puzzling inconsistencies with what we are
actually observing.
For one thing, it does not always appear in the same area of the sky. Frequently, it appears in the western sky and then in as little as an hour later
will have moved to the opposite side of the sky.
It also changes positions in the sky numerous times during the same night...sometimes within less than an hour's time. I've searched for some
explanation for this, but the only info I can find is the natural progression of its position relative to the rotation of the earth, which would make
perfect sense...if that's all this thing does. But it isn't.
Regarding the direction it points in, I can only find that it appears to point downward when viewed in the southern hemisphere in winter. Well...I'm
in the northern hemisphere in the summer. So is it just free-form in this hemisphere then? That seems unlikely...yet it changes direction routinely,
night after night, at different times, and often in the same night.
There are also nights in which it changes direction, yet never changes its position in the sky...never traverses as it should with the progression of
the skyscape caused by the planet's rotation. It simply disappears from view, and sometimes it is mere minutes from the last time we viewed it...and
on perfectly clear, cloudless nights.
Two nights ago, for example, I took my dog Butch out for a walk around the lake shortly after 9pm. It had just gotten fully dark and the triangle was
visible very high to the west, pointed upward and toward the west, Altair lined up with my right shoulder when facing it directly. I watched it, as I
always do, the entire walk, and marked its location in the sky once again before heading back inside to make sure it had not changed...our nightly
walks are typically about an hour long, as a reference point.
At 10:45pm, I took our other dog Daisy out and, as per usual, looked for the triangle. Sure enough, it had moved over so that Vega appeared very low
in the middle of the sky with Altair, the point, turned downward toward the treeline. It stayed in that position until 3am, after which point it
vanished from view.
Last night, it appeared again in the same position, and during the course of the night it changed both location and direction several times. I have
been watching this thing now ever since I first noticed it back in the middle of May, and several other people have also witnessed exactly what I
have.
I view it through binoculars too, and the stars look like ordinary stars, quite pretty actually, but perfectly normal...using other bright stars as a
frame of reference. The oddities we've observed have been mostly its recurring erratic movement/placement in the sky, with the exception of the stars
themselves changing color as well, and also multiple times in the same night...but that is fairly easy to explain away, as far as I know.
We have observed a blinking effect with both Vega and Altair, several times simultaneously and in tandem with each other, but again, I think there is
probably an explanation for that as well.
I am in no way saying that just because I personally do not find the flashing to be abnormal as you do, it renders your perspective invalid; I want to
make that clear. I just wanted to let you know that there are plenty of other things that are odd about it too...at least in our little slice of sky.