Bright Star that faded

I was out side earlier this evening around 10PM UTC here in Tucson, and I noticed this very bright star in-between the big and little dipper. I would say it was brighter than Jupiter but not as bright as Venus. It did not move and was a single point of white light. But then the light slowly started to fade and after about 10 seconds it was gone. The only thing I could think of was a super nova. Did any one els whiteness this? any Idea of what it could have been?



Any input would be welcome. Im really interested in astronomy and always looking at the sky but this one stumps me. Sorry I don't have a picture or video but it happened very quickly and it would have just been a white dot any way.

There is a lot between us and the stars, and a lot that affects their visibility in different moments.

I am thinking that perhaps it was occluded by clouds, but gradually.

originally posted by: joeraynor
There is a lot between us and the stars, and a lot that affects their visibility in different moments.

I am thinking that perhaps it was occluded by clouds, but gradually.

There was not a cloud int the sky, I live in the desert and it never reappeared. So I don't think it was occulted by a cloud I look at the night sky al the time and even have a telescope and I've never seen a star that bright and not in that portion of the sky.

There are no bright stars that reside in that area and it is not near the ecliptic . If you report it to the right people maybe they will swing Swift over to it for a look.

a reply to: BGTM90

Sounds like it was a satellite flare, called "Iridium flare". They do move, but this one might have been moving slowly and you just didn't notice it.

a reply to: BGTM90

I've seen that many times here in Greece. Don't know what it is though..

a reply to: wildespace

That is something I was frankly not familiar with, and it sounds like a good explanation. You learn all kinds of things when you venture out into these niche subforums!

originally posted by: wildespace
a reply to: BGTM90

Sounds like it was a satellite flare, called "Iridium flare". They do move, but this one might have been moving slowly and you just didn't notice it.

I didn't even think of iridium flare thank you for the input but this was defiantly stationary also I just went to a sat tracker website and it dose not look like there was one in that direction at the time.

If this really was a celestial event where a known star was always seen with it's known visible magnitude, then I would bet someone will know pretty quick in the astronomy community, and say something in the news.

IT would be pretty interesting to see a nova or something like this because you happened to see the last of it's light arrive here and then be done. The odds of seeing something like that would be pretty "astronomical" haha

Delta Aquarid meteor shower was due to start 10PM UTC,

originally posted by: BGTM90
this was defiantly stationary

Then it might have been one of the geostationary satellites glinting in the Sun, although these don't normally become as bright as you described.

www.heavens-above.com... is a very useful site for such things. Set your precise location and time zone, and see if there were any iridium flares or bright satellites in your area at that time.

I'm very sure it wasn't a nova or supernova; such cosmic events last days or even weeks, and the news would be picked up by many amateur and professional astronomers.

~~~

@joeraynor: if you spend 15-20 minutes under a relatively dark sky, you can see all sorts of stuff - satellites, satellite flares, an odd meteor, and even the ISS. It helps if you look up the local satellite information on the Internet beforehand, but it's possible to witness these things by chance.

It could have been either a satellite or a meteor that was moving in such a direction toward you or away from you that may have made it difficult to see that movement.

Not all satellites are listed on the satellite tracking websites, and there was a meteor shower last night.

originally posted by: BGTM90
. The only thing I could think of was a super nova..

A super nova wouldn't behave like that.

a reply to: BGTM90
I had a similar experience in august of 07.
I was riding my motorcycle near dusk, headed due north, and just above the horizon I noticed a bet bright star. I hadn't noticed it before, and it was still light enough that no other stars were visible yet. It seemed as though the star brightened grew in apperant size the it "flashed and was gone. But it didn't dissappear, it semed to have almost ghost image for a couple of minutes.
What I saw was not a satellite flare or a reflection off of air craft as it didn't move at all .
Novas are visible for days even weeks, it's not that.
But gamma ray bursts typically last a few seconds or minutes.
I sent an email to the game ray observatory, and I got a reply saying that it might have been a grb, but that they didn't catch it.

originally posted by: BGTM90
I was out side earlier this evening around 10PM UTC here in Tucson, and I noticed this very bright star in-between the big and little dipper.

I'm a bit puzzled: how could you see the big or little dipper at 10pm UTC? That would be 3pm Mountain Standard Time, i.e. broad daylight.

Assuming you meant 10pm local time, this is one possibility



Very close to the spot you mentioned, and slow moving. I haven't ever watched these Meteor satellites but could it have caused a flare?

originally posted by: Rob48

originally posted by: BGTM90
I was out side earlier this evening around 10PM UTC here in Tucson, and I noticed this very bright star in-between the big and little dipper.

I'm a bit puzzled: how could you see the big or little dipper at 10pm UTC? That would be 3pm Mountain Standard Time, i.e. broad daylight.

Assuming you meant 10pm local time, this is one possibility

Very close to the spot you mentioned, and slow moving. I haven't ever watched these Meteor satellites but could it have caused a flare?

yes sorry that was the wrong time zone it was local time

i took a trip from texas to california on friday night got to witness something like you just described. It was in the Phoenix area. my dad and brother also witnessed this.
Really bright and looked like it wasnt moving around maybe 7-8pm then just dimmed out.

originally posted by: Rob48

originally posted by: BGTM90
I was out side earlier this evening around 10PM UTC here in Tucson, and I noticed this very bright star in-between the big and little dipper.

I'm a bit puzzled: how could you see the big or little dipper at 10pm UTC? That would be 3pm Mountain Standard Time, i.e. broad daylight.

Assuming you meant 10pm local time, this is one possibility

Very close to the spot you mentioned, and slow moving. I haven't ever watched these Meteor satellites but could it have caused a flare?

This orly reached a magnitude of 4 this was deffinatly around a -4 apparent mag.

a reply to: BGTM90
Yes I was wondering whether there could be a short lived flare or reflection off it that is not forecast by the tables? Just a thought.