Odd object in astronomical photo - Need advice!

A guy in a French UFO forum just posted an odd photo while he was taking night shoots with its camera (Reflex Sony SLT-A77) mounted on a bresser mersier goto ldx75 203/1000 with a n°12 adapter.

He was facing North in South France, last week at 02AM (local Time) and saw a bright object in the viewfinder thinking it was a bright star, then took a shoot.
He said he don't want to show the original photo for Copyright reasons, but I actually try to convince him to do so.
He also said that exposure time was 1s. and ISO was 80.

Copy of the original:



Best size can be seen here

Close-up and contrast/luminosity improvement of the "object":



Can sounds weird, but the shape reminds me of something, but can't remember exactly what...
Edit: yes, reminds me of this ISS photo:



Any help or advice will be welcome!

I think you answered your own question. It looks REMARKABLY like the ISS.

This link will give you real time of the ISS orbit.

www.isstracker.com...

It seems to pass right where your friend took the pic!

Wow. Pretty impressive.
Was it illuminating or perhaps, refracting light?


Can't wait for the ISS crowd to chime in.

In 3, 2, 1.............................

Maybe the Air Force space plane thats been orbiting the Earth for over a year now?

Space Plane

Originally posted by redbarron626
I think you answered your own question. It looks REMARKABLY like the ISS.

This link will give you real time of the ISS orbit.

www.isstracker.com...

It seems to pass right where your friend took the pic!

I can understand the Station having lights inside (to work and everything) but is it donned with external lights that would make it look like a 'star'?

Ever wonder where NASA got the design from? Just throwing out a rhetorical question...............

Swamp gas.....or bug.

Originally posted by GuidedKill
Swamp gas.....or bug.

We are sooooooooooooooooooo passed that.
It's the era of Chinese lanterns!


If this was the ISS then why are we (this French guy) able to see it at 2AM ?
Does it or can it pick up light from the Sun at that altitude? If so, then all satellites should be visible at night, no?

reply to post by elevenaugust

Interesting pic, and I must agree, looks incredibly like the ISS.

Do you have anymore info? When the frenchmen photographed the object, you say he thought it was a star through the viewfinder. Could he see the object with the naked eye. Did the object appear stationary (like a star) or was it traveling like a satellite?

Anyways, cool pic, but need more info

Originally posted by Human_Alien

Originally posted by GuidedKill
Swamp gas.....or bug.

We are sooooooooooooooooooo passed that.
It's the era of Chinese lanterns!

If this was the ISS then why are we (this French guy) able to see it at 2AM ?
Does it or can it pick up light from the Sun at that altitude? If so, then all satellites should be visible at night, no?

Your right Human_alien......I stand corrected....Its a Chinese lantern!!! Maybe even a Chinese Lantern surrounded by swamp gas and bugs.

reply to post by Human_Alien

Before sunrise or after sunset, the ISS can appear to observers on the ground, with the naked eye as a slow moving, bright, white dot, slowly crossing the sky in 2 to 5 minutes. This happens before dawn and after dusk when the ISS is sunlit but the ground and sky are dark, which is typically the case up to a few hours after sunset or before sunrise.[230] Because of the size of its reflective surface area, the ISS is the brightest man made object in the sky, with an approximate maximum brightness of −4 when overhead, similar to Venus. The ISS can also produce flares as sunlight glints off reflective surfaces as it orbits of up to 8 or 16 times the brightness of Venus.[231] The ISS is also visible during broad daylight conditions, albeit with a great deal more effort.

Occams Razor.

Originally posted by redbarron626
I think you answered your own question. It looks REMARKABLY like the ISS.

This link will give you real time of the ISS orbit.

www.isstracker.com...

It seems to pass right where your friend took the pic!

Thank you!

Yes, I also did a search with Heavens-Above and seems like a match:



Waiting for my friend to confirm 2:36AM correct for its sighting.

On the face of it its an interesting picture , not so sure its the ISS though .
I'm more interested in this

He said he don't want to show the original photo for Copyright reasons

Mmmm I'd like to see the data for the picture , what Copyright reasons ... haven't you posted a copy here ?
In my experience hoaxers hold back on original copies , not saying its a hoax but it does have a red flag attached to it until he posts the unedited original

reply to post by Human_Alien

Can't wait for the ISS crowd to chime in.

Is there a crowd for for everything that doesn't jump to fantastical conclusions?

Originally posted by ZombieJesus
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

Can't wait for the ISS crowd to chime in.

Is there a crowd for for everything that doesn't jump to fantastical conclusions?

"Crowds" should teach and share their thoughts with other 'crowds' though.

Fantastical? Well...........welcome to planet Earth!!!

Originally posted by gortex
On the face of it its an interesting picture , not so sure its the ISS though .
I'm more interested in this

He said he don't want to show the original photo for Copyright reasons

Mmmm I'd like to see the data for the picture , what Copyright reasons ... haven't you posted a copy here ?
In my experience hoaxers hold back on original copies , not saying its a hoax but it does have a red flag attached to it until he posts the unedited original

Yes, I understand where you're coming from, Gortex, but be sure that I will do my best to obtain the original unedited photo, with all the infos required by:

Originally posted by ZombieJesus
Do you have anymore info? When the frenchmen photographed the object, you say he thought it was a star through the viewfinder. Could he see the object with the naked eye. Did the object appear stationary (like a star) or was it traveling like a satellite?

Anyways, cool pic, but need more info

He's actually not anymore on-line, so I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow for more infos...

If the ISS was in the vicinity at the time of the picture, AND the object highly resembles the ISS...hmm. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...It's not a chicken.

Originally posted by Human_Alien

Originally posted by redbarron626
I think you answered your own question. It looks REMARKABLY like the ISS.

This link will give you real time of the ISS orbit.

www.isstracker.com...

It seems to pass right where your friend took the pic!

I can understand the Station having lights inside (to work and everything) but is it donned with external lights that would make it look like a 'star'?

While I have no idea what this object is, or if it is the ISS...

...but to answer your question about the ISS "lighting", the ISS is visible to people on earth because it reflects sunlight, NOT due to any artificial lighting on or in the craft.

In fact, the ISS can often be the second brightest object in the night sky (second only to the Moon). Depending on the angle between the ISS, the Sun, and the observer on Earth, the ISS is often brighter than Venus.

All satellites that are visible to people on earth are visible because the are being lit up by the Sun (they can be at a high enough altitude that the Sun still shines on them even when they are over the heads of people on the night side of earth. Iridium satellites can appear to be VERY bright for a few brief seconds because they have highly reflective antennas in a particular configuration that can reflect sunlight directly downward.

reply to post by elevenaugust

post by elevenaugust
but be sure that I will do my best to obtain the original unedited photo,

Thanks
I've been looking at the closeups you did in the OP and while I guess it could be the ISS it does look odd

Originally posted by redbarron626
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

Before sunrise or after sunset, the ISS can appear to observers on the ground, with the naked eye as a slow moving, bright, white dot, slowly crossing the sky in 2 to 5 minutes. This happens before dawn and after dusk when the ISS is sunlit but the ground and sky are dark, which is typically the case up to a few hours after sunset or before sunrise.[230] Because of the size of its reflective surface area, the ISS is the brightest man made object in the sky, with an approximate maximum brightness of −4 when overhead, similar to Venus. The ISS can also produce flares as sunlight glints off reflective surfaces as it orbits of up to 8 or 16 times the brightness of Venus.[231] The ISS is also visible during broad daylight conditions, albeit with a great deal more effort.

Occams Razor.

Thanks
But I gotta laugh.


Paris France:
Sunrise: 7:18am
Sunset: 8:28pm

This happens before dawn and after dusk when the ISS is sunlit but the ground and sky are dark, which is typically the case up to a few hours after sunset or before sunrise.

So where does 2AM fall in? The words 'a few hours' are ambiguous at best!