Blinking prismatic star that moves

There is this star/object in the sky that I viewed tonight. I've viewed it before. It changes colors 'blue,red,yellow,white,green,orange.' And it moves around. I sat and watched it for about 25 minutes. It started behind a small tree line and then drifted to the east about 5.5 inches 'if I were to put my fingers up to the skyline and try to measure it.'

I had my wife watch other stars at the same time and they didn't move at all. One was behind another tree line and never moved while we were outside. This object seems to even move up and down or zig-zag just a bit, but I admit that could be my eyes playing tricks on me. But the tree line reference seems legit.

So what is it? Why does that one move so quickly compared to the others? How long would one usually have to be viewing a star to notice it change positions in the sky? The twinkling even seems to intensify at times, giving off more vibrant colors. I also viewed a shooting star as I was viewing this blinking star that whizzed right by it.

I would and have called them 'dancing lights.' From my viewpoint they move up, down, zig zag, and sideways -- changing in color intensity. But then they drift away from fixed objects on the horizon in less than 30 minutes.

Thanks for any input into this

I would load a star program. That would be a good start.probably locate one from the space forum. Plus they are useful for finding planets and constellations. Stellarium is a good one.

About a week ago I went to Asbury Park Beach in NJ. It was 9:30 p.m. and I was with friends at a bonfire on the beach. I walked away from the fire and found a spot on the sand to lay in to look up at the stars. There were hundreds of stars that night. I was amazed.. what caught my attention was a twinkling star that kept moving (like if it was an airplane). Of course, I questioned myself and needed a second opinion. I went to my friend who was at the bonfire and we both walked away from the bonfire to get a better view of the stars. He thought I was just seeing things.. but then he laid down on the sand and looked up at the star I was pointing to (took some time lol).. It wasn't an airplane, it was a star.. and it was moving across the night sky zig-zagging left and right, side-side, diagonally.. it was creeping my friend and I out. I gave up on what it was. I know stars don't move across the night sky like that and the other surrounding stars weren't moving at all.. I came across this site 30 minutes ago and came across your thread and now I'm starting to wonder what that could've been. I hope our eyes weren't playing tricks on us lol.. hopefully one day we'll learn the truth.

-mk

a reply to: Gumerk

I think I know what it is you're seeing however it's hard to tell for sure.

When I read your title I knew right then what it was going to say and sure enough that was it.

IMO, as I've been watching the same thing for years now, is in fact a star. Although in my case I wouldn't say it moves across the sky. At least not any faster than the rotation of the rest of the sky does anyway. Although it does seem to and definitely does jump around a lot going through it's color cycles as you mentioned.

However, if I look away and look back it doesn't seem to have actually moved. However the longer I stare at it and it's light show the more it starts jumping all over and seems to move. So I think it's just a star and the rapid movement is just my eyes tripping on it.

The color changing which is undeniable once you've looked at it compared to others I believe has to do with it disturbing the atmosphere as the light hits earth. I say this because it's always the most vivid when low on the horizon. I've never seen any similar flashing like that straight above in the sky. It seems to always be closer to the horizon when I've seen it.

So that's my opinion of what you saw. I'm no expert and those are just the only ways I've been able to explain it without actually tracking it or figuring out more info about what it might be technically.

Hopefully this will help or at least get you to figure it out and let me know for sure what it is too. If we're talking about the same thing that is.

a reply to: unabide

Possibly satellites or Space Station I would think

I'd be skeptical of your observations if I were you. If you were watching stars for 25 minutes, you should have noticed them change position relative to foreground objects. Atmospheric scintillation can account for changes in brightness and color. The Autokinesis effect can explain apparent motion, especially if there is not a lot of visual detail in the region of the sky near the observed object. What doesn't make sense is the perceived eastwardly motion, since celestial objects should appear to move toward the west. but again it sounds like you may not have been stationary enough to accurately gauge the motion of this object, if you weren't able to perceive any westwardly motion of the stars in 25 minutes duration. If you sit down so your head doesn't move, and so that a star is directly behind some leaves in a nearby tree. You should be able to see the star appear and disappear as it is occluded by parts of the tree in a matter of just a few minutes.

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

They are solid in color but will fade out , plus they don't jump around. Satellite tracking programs are great if you want to view them.

Capella.

Might be Sirius

You could be describing a jet in a high-altitude holding pattern. They appear to move very little for a time. And the atmosphere make their navigation lights look like they're "twinkling".

a reply to: abe froman

Exactly what I was going to say. I have watched this little cluster for an hour or so on many nights. The color changes are captivating to say the least. Without more info, this is my guess.


From Wikipedia

Although it appears to be a single star to the naked eye, it is actually a star system of four stars in two binary pairs. The first pair consists of two bright, type-G giant stars, designated Capella Aa and Capella Ab, in a very tight circular orbit some 0.76 AU apart and a derived orbital period of 104 days. Capella Aa is the brighter of the two at spectral class G8III (G8 Giant) whereas Ab is slightly smaller and of spectral class G0III (G0 Giant). Aa has a calculated mass of 3.05 times that of the Sun and Ab some 2.57 times that of the Sun. These two stars have both exhausted their core hydrogen fuel and become giant stars, though it is unclear exactly what stage they are on the stellar evolutionary pathway.

en.wikipedia.org...

Drone?

I have been watching the same thing for a couple of years now. Been meaning to set up wife's camera on a tripod and get video.

My thing is it's more than one. The same color changes. The zigzags but staying in the same general area. I am hoping a sat. But why the color changes. And as for the movement, how much fuel does it have to be constantly moving like that? Does it get refueled. Why does it need to constantly move like that. If it doesnt require fuel what type of system makes it move like that? Kite string?

Obviously all those questions are under the assumption it's a sat.

Anywho, want to get video from stable base to see if its really moving and to document it.

The amount of movement taking place makes me think its not an optical illusion or whatever.

Regards

a reply to: Gumerk

The "dancing lights" i see dont just drift. It gets to a point fairly quick but then again i have plenty of trees around and points of reference.

are you sure you were not not one who drifted slightly, are you sure it wasnt you relative position which shifted between those 25 minutes... it happens you know.

Any official UFO investigator would be able to tell you that it's obviously meteorites, an escaped weather balloon, the planet Venus, or swamp gas.

a reply to: Gumerk

It's Sirius.

I wondered the same thing last year when I saw exactly what you saw although it didn't move around like you say. It does seem to rotate faster than other stars though. But yes it does flash all these different colours and I too thought it was something else at that time I saw it flashing more than usual. It was as if it was communicating with something elsewhere... like Morse Code! In the end it turned out that the Star was just in a different position than usual.

I saw a light that was prismatic and moved around about the width of your thumb. It seemed to "float" left and right, up and down.

It was low, close to the horizon and SSE from my position, not anyplace jets would normally be.

It was weird, and I haven't seen it since.

The End.

Yes, there are such things. They don't "twinkle" but they do "strobe" all the colors. And they do not move at the same rate as the stars. Some will fade out slowly, and if you keep watching they will turn red and start to move along the horizon.

I shined a spotlight at one once and later that night they illuminated my bedroom through the window with a silver-white light as I was half asleep.

Do not mess with them.

Check into Harley Rutledge and Project Identification. He was a scientist that studied these exact things.