Flashing star below big dipper handle

I think the reason some really bright stars seem to flash multiple colors, has something to do with the way our own atmosphere filters their light comming through.

I can't remember the exact term or the exact nature of it, but have heard it mentioned before.

Something about what actually makes stars twinkle floash the way they do, has to do with our own atmosphere.

I see this all the time at various points down here in AU.

I'm way out in the country & there is no smog, so the night skies are verry clear for viewing this sort of thing.

wow ive seen the same thing pretty much almost everynight. honestly its gotta be a star cause i see it every night, it looks like it almost flashes between blue and red. i'll check tonight if its in the area of were you say it is

I wanna see it! I live in Arkansas (US), what time do you think it'd be visible for me out here???

reply to post by Phage


Thank you for the info. I happened to go outside about 1:30-2:00 this morning and saw it.

im seeing this light on the sky as well. Some times its in a westwardly direction and some times its strait north? i think it might be planet venus but im not sure. Its very bright.

reply to post by FlySolo


I've seen this as well, yesterday. I am not one to leap to irrational conclusions, so in the end I thought - with a complete lack of astronomical knowledge - that it must be a planet, probably Mars, because the predominant colour seemed to be red; it was really flashing, jumping, changing colour - it was quite windy here in london, with thin and fast moving cloud cover, so i thought the effect must be due to atmospheric distortion...but i do spend time looking at the sky, and know what planets look like, this looked different. It seemed geostationary.

I to have seen this "star" you are describing near the big dipper. I actually noticed this last year sometime and wrote it off as a satellite in my head because of it constantly being there. If we are talking about the same "star" or U.F.O. it flashes blue,red,and green but occasionally dims to nothing. I live in northern Manitoba if your experience was similar please reply.And yes i to think it may be hanging in our atmosphere because of its almost stationary appearance.

not that i truly beleive the whole federation of light thing but who knows? could be that ship approaching and making its way here..chances of this being true is zilch... but I am still hopefull that someone\somthing gets us out of the caca we are in.. I will look up to the skies today.. I have noticed somthing blinking red\blue and I always figured its the atmosphere making those affects...

[edit on 3-10-2008 by thefreepatriot]

I was also looking at a star a few weeks back, It was really bright and seemed to move like a satellite but slower. Too curious we grabbed the telescope and took a look. It was Jupiter you could cleraly see the 2 stripes across it. Also through the telescope you could see 3 of its moons which moved with it. I'd never seen a planet through a telescope before, only the moon - which also awed me. This took my breathaway.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


yea i dont know if it is in our atmosphere or stationary because ive watched this object for over an hour once during the summer and it moves like its a star so thats what it probley is but there is always that possibility

Originally posted by FlySolo
In the beginning of september I noticed a very bright multi-colored star flashing around 10:30 pm. I made a point of watching it for about an hour then went to bed. The next night at the same time I checked for it again but it wasn't there. However, it's been there every night since. As the hour passes it gets further away as the planet rotates so I assumed it is just star.

To find it, follow the big dipper's handle backwards and continue about 4 inches or so in a straight line. I've checked google sky for possible stars but there's too many to try and pinpoint which one it is. It's bugging the crap out of me. Is it a star? ufo? Hoping some experts can solve this for me.

Thanks

i saw this too. in fact i posted about it in another thread. it was september 13th.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

mine was the anonymous post, location harrison lake bc canada.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
I to have seen this "star" you are describing near the big dipper. I actually noticed this last year sometime and wrote it off as a satellite in my head because of it constantly being there. If we are talking about the same "star" or U.F.O. it flashes blue,red,and green but occasionally dims to nothing. I live in northern Manitoba if your experience was similar please reply.And yes i to think it may be hanging in our atmosphere because of its almost stationary appearance.

I think we're looking at the same thing. I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what star it might be (arcturus perhaps). However, it does dim as time goes by and seems to get smaller. A star wouldn't appear to get smaller would it? Almost like it is stationary.

Originally posted by seeker11

Originally posted by FlySolo
In the beginning of september I noticed a very bright multi-colored star flashing around 10:30 pm. I made a point of watching it for about an hour then went to bed. The next night at the same time I checked for it again but it wasn't there. However, it's been there every night since. As the hour passes it gets further away as the planet rotates so I assumed it is just star.

To find it, follow the big dipper's handle backwards and continue about 4 inches or so in a straight line. I've checked google sky for possible stars but there's too many to try and pinpoint which one it is. It's bugging the crap out of me. Is it a star? ufo? Hoping some experts can solve this for me.

Thanks

i saw this too. in fact i posted about it in another thread. it was september 13th.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

mine was the anonymous post, location harrison lake bc canada.

I read your post the other day. You know, I could swear it wasn't there the second night I went to check up on it. I made sure to step out on the balcony at the exact same time. When I didn't see it, I was 100% sure it wasn't natural until I kept seeing it every other night. I began to second guess if I went out at the correct time...or did I?

if you look to the right of the big dipper at about the same distance .... you will see another one that does the same thing... they have allways done that... there is a term for those flashing type stars.. sorry I forgot it.. im over 50 yrs old.. and they have been doing that.. since I was at boy scout camp .. and the troop leader pointed it out.. we were doing the constellations for a merit badge...

'Arc to Arcturus' is the way to remember the relationship between the Big Dipper and Arcturus. If you continue the arc of the Dipper's handle, you reach Arcturus.

Anyway, to illustrate the atmospheric scintillation effect, I made this video through a large telescope (10 inch Schmidt Cassegrain) using a CCD camera. To enhance the color separation, I kept defocussing the image. Note also how similar the defocussed disc is to the 'giant UFOs' touted by David Serada in the STS-75 Tether Incident.

Star Scintillation:

WG3

Here is a video and some pictures of what we see here in southern Missouri .. tinypic.com...

Picture 1 .. tinypic.com...

Picture 2 .. tinypic.com...

we watched them all night , until 6 am .. they do come and go , disappear and re-appear and sometimes in another place.

reply to post by MurrayTORONTO


I jus witness about the same thing. I went out to smoke a cig. and was looking at the stars, its a clear night. I don't know if its the big or lil dipper. I know it's one. It's to the left of the handle it looked as if it had some blue and a lil red in it and kinda as if it was blinking but never going completely dim. Then to the right down some i saw a blue and white shooting star. The first one i've ever seen. It lasted a second maybe and it went from right to left goign downward. All of this freaked me out. I looked at the bright star for another 4 or 5 minutes and it kinda didn't look blue oor red anymore it kinda looked as if it blended in with the stars, all white, but alot brighter than the rest, then finally went in to do some research. I dont know what to think.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by FlySolo

 

...Arcturus is a very bright star and sparkles very noticeably but it is right on the horizon at that time. Earlier in the evening is should be clearly visible. Your fist, held vertically at arm's length is about ten degrees. "Four inches" is also about right for this. By this description, you're looking in the area of Bootes. There are a few fairly bright stars in this region.

[edit on 2-10-2008 by Phage]

I agree that the OP is probably describing Arcturus. The curve of the Big Dipper's handle points right to Arcturus (hence the astroners' addage "take the arc to Arcturus"), Arcturus is very bright, and it has been "scintillating" -- or twinkling in different colors -- lately, at least in my sky here in Pennsylvania.

Check out mikesingh's thread. It might be what you have been seeing, but then again, you might just have seen Arcturus.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 7-11-2008 by Deaf Alien]

I know this is true I am in california and my daughter and I saw this star in the handle of the big dipper.I'm glad other peop;e saw it.I didn't realize its benn goiing on for so long.I wonder what it is?