NEW- Bright object next to the moon?

reply to post by KSCVeteran


Welcome to ATS Clark, have read your Goldwater interview and its very interesting to say the least. Have fun here, hope you have forum armor... it can get a bit ruff here sometimes but its a blast nontheless.

Originally posted by KSCVeteran
That bright light or star next to the moon was the plant, Venus

Wow!! Venus-fly-traps in the sky!

sorry, couldn't resist




Mod Note: One Line Post – Please Review This Link.



[edit on 6-11-2007 by elevatedone]

Fascinating subject to be sure. I just have one question for all the "Venus" proponents.... why in the span of 3 minutes did the planet Venus tilt 15 degrees? (Please refer to images on the diagram)





Its not that I dispute the explanation of the source, but more wonder about what type of (atmospheric?) phenomena we are witnessing here...still pondering.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by 1nL1ghtened]

I'd have to say that's Venus.I'm familiar with it's location and saw the same thing when I left for work at 5:20 a.m. MDT.

Did you take the pictures with a fixed camera position, or were you moving the camera around between pictures?

Can you post the full pictures, rather than the horizontal slices? I'd like to see what direction the smudges we are calling Venus lean relative to the focal axis of your camera lens.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by Ectoterrestrial]

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
Its not that I dispute the explanation of the source, but more wonder about what type of (atmospheric?) phenomena we are witnessing here...still pondering.
[edit on 6-11-2007 by 1nL1ghtened]

The atmospheric phenomena here is known commonly as "camera shake".

To put it another way, stars (or a planet in this case), won't come out as a pin-point of light unless the camera is mounted on a tripod or star tracking mount, and the shutter is controlled with a remote release or timer. They will just be motion blurred, and come out looking like what the OP has posted here.

I've been noticing a lot of lights moving around the moon as well. I am glad to finally know what I was seeing by the moon tho. I thought it was the ISS or that comet.

Originally posted by Ectoterrestrial
Did you take the pictures with a fixed camera position, or were you moving the camera around between pictures?

Can you post the full pictures, rather than the horizontal slices? I'd like to see what direction the smudges we are calling Venus lean relative to the focal axis of your camera lens.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by Ectoterrestrial]

I have provided the original images in the OP. (They are linked Image 1 and Image 2, they are uploaded @ 1024 x 768 so I didnt want to plaster them on the post.) I steadied my arms by resting my elbows on the back glass of my Jeep. Best I could do in a pinch. Noone has yet to provide an answer on why the "object" has changed position (actually tilted) in the 3 minute time span between pics. Do large celestial bodies do this on a regular basis? No "motion blur" is going to cause the object to pivot, sorry guys nice try, look at the photos. Someone else take some pics of Venus for this post and see if you can duplicate the images posted here.





I find it intriguing that I was able to capture a motion blur, twice, in a 3 minute span and have them look exactly the same....

note the green glow at the top of "venus" (depicted with arrows) using that as a reference point, it clearly shows the object has "tilted". Cool trick for a planet!

Thanks for the replies everyone.... fun to contemplate.......

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
I steadied my arms by resting my elbows on the back glass of my Jeep. Best I could do in a pinch.

You may think so, but even steadying yourself in this manner, will not eliminate camera shake altogether, especially with relatively long exposures like 1/8 sec.

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
Noone has yet to provide an answer on why the "object" has changed position (actually tilted) in the 3 minute time span between pics. Do large celestial bodies do this on a regular basis?

The object is not changing position or tilting, it's your cameras movement that is causing the object to not appear as a a pin-point (as it would if your camera was properly supported).

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
No "motion blur" is going to cause the object to pivot, sorry guys nice try, look at the photos. Someone else take some pics of Venus for this post and see if you can duplicate the images posted here.

Are you speaking from experience here, or just assuming? Why don't you try this experiment yourself :

Make sure the camera is set up the same as before when you first took the shots. Find the "self-timer" mode on your camera, and set it to the on position. Take a t-shirt or something (a tripod would be better), and use it to support the camera on a solid surface (roof or bonnet of your jeep will do as long as you are not leaning on it and the engine is off), so as it points towards Venus. Once ready, activate the timer, and make sure nothing moves until the exposure has been taken.

Now, when you check your photo, Venus should appear as a pin-point of light (or a disk, since it will most likely be over-exposed). The crescent phase it's in at the moment won't show up unless you have a fair bit of magnification.

Originally posted by 1nL1ghtened
note the green glow at the top of "venus" (depicted with arrows) using that as a reference point, it clearly shows the object has "tilted". Cool trick for a planet!

The "green glow" is due to something known as "chromatic aberration". Chromatic aberration is caused by the inability of a lens to focus certain wavelengths of light to a precise point, and is most noticeable in extreme contrast situations (very bright areas next to very dark areas), which is exactly what we have here. This can easily be replicated... point your camera at a tree with fine branches that are against the light (sky) and shoot. When you look at your photo on the computer, zoom in and you will see green/purple fringes where the dark areas of the branches meet the light parts of the sky.

Thanks for the info CHUD. It helps everyone to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, or more importantly to get a basic understanding of the variables involved when trying to photograph subject matter of this kind.

Thanks to everyone that joined the discussion. I'm walkin away with a great appreciation for astronomy, our beautiful universe, and threads I can learn from
so to be able to better contribute in the future.

reply to post by 1nL1ghtened


You're welcome 1nL1ghtened. If it's any consolation, Venus is the most commonly mis-identified UFO by the general public, and it's not difficult to see why when you've seen it for yourself!

Might I suggest, if you (and anyone else reading this who has an interest in UFOs) would like to learn more about the night sky, download a planetarium program which will show you what is what, and help you navigate the myriad of objects that can be found up there.

Anyone can sort the wheat from the chaff for themselves using software like this, and in turn help to bolster the quality of posts here on ATS. I use SkyMap Pro, but there are many others out there which will do the same job.

Shameless plug - In less than 2 weeks one of the greatest night time spectacles of the year (IMO) will be upon us. The Leonid meteor shower this year will take place with out any moonlight to interfere with observations, making this year a good opportunity to see the Leonids in their full glory. Although the predictions point to the shower being of average intensity this year, as with all meteor showers, there is always the (small) chance of a surprise outburst which no one has predicted, so I urge all those with an interest to try and observe the sky in the nights both before and after the predicted peak (on the night/morning of the 18th/19th). I'll be posting a thread in the Space Exploration forum with more details very soon, so keep an eye out.

[edit on 8-11-2007 by C.H.U.D.]

Was it in an eastward direction?

Guys thats a planet...most likely venus that time of year

Well, here is an update. I again observed a (possibly multiple) object(s) again, in very close proximity to the moon. So I went into work and grabbed the company camera (a sony something) and squeezed off a few pics of this brightly flashing (red, blue, green) object(s).

I of course did not have a tripod and am not familiar enough with this particular camera to set it up on a timer, plus it was cold as @#%$ but what the heck...mabey I would get lucky and get a decent image...this thing was bright and its close proximity to the moon led me to believe that this might be one of the satellites in orbit around the moon right now.

Ill post up the picture but I dont want to hear any of this "is a planet" crap because the moon was in the high western sky. (Venus was present but in the EASTERN SKY) So...without further a due...





I am taking donations if anyone wants to send me a decent camera and tri-pod...or HD video cam...your choice I wont be picky... . so I can get some GOOD pictures. I took three pics in all and the other two are motion blurred but I will be happy to post them if anyone wants to see them.

[edit on 29-11-2007 by 1nL1ghtened]

reply to post by 1nL1ghtened



What time was the most recent picture taken at?

I checked Your Sky for Indianapolis on Nov. 5, the morning of your first sighting.

The location and your description of "flashing red, blue, and green" match the star Arcturus. It's quite amazing when it's at maximum clarity and color.




[edit on 11/29/2007 by eaglewingz]

reply to post by 1nL1ghtened


Indeed, you saw the planet Venus, a wonderful bright world completly shrouded in a thick poisonous surface. Venus is about 64% illuminated (both Mercury and Venus -called inferior planets- display phases), so if you were to look at it through binoculars or a telescope you would see it looking like the Moon when 2/3 full. I think C.H.U.Ds explanation of why it appears to flicker and so on is spot on.

Also visible in the morning sky is Saturn (in Leo) and Mars (in Gemini).
Alll fascinating worlds, do take a look at them if you get the chance!

[edit on 29-11-2007 by timelike]

reply to post by 1nL1ghtened


I would go with Sirius for this morning's picture. It's the brightest star in the sky and matches the location. It's west of the moon and at the same angle with respect to the dark portion of the moon's sphere.

"Never trust a user who's ATS points are deep in the negative numbers"
-me

reply to post by eaglewingz


Thanks for the reply.... Did you not see the picture? It was smack next to the moon...not 8.7 light years away, but I really do appreciate your hypothesis

Originally posted by XFoxMulderX
"Never trust a user who's ATS points are deep in the negative numbers"
-me

Thanks for your opinion. I'm not really sure what your trying to insinuate but it doesn't sound nice....I had more (and still do combined) ATS points than you do. I chose not to be boring and used my points at the ATS store... (YOU CAN FIND IT IN YOUR MEMBER CENTER) try it out you may just have fun....

I'm not here to "convince" anyone of much of anything...I saw an anomalous object, close to the moon but in the western sky almost directly up, and took a few photos of it...I found it intriguing that there appears to be three different or separate objects there...I could not see that from the ground.

[edit on 29-11-2007 by 1nL1ghtened]

[edit on 29-11-2007 by 1nL1ghtened]

reply to post by C.H.U.D.


ok so why did'nt the moon tilt as well?