Look to the sky right now!!!

reply to post by edgecrusher2199



Eh well.... if head of astronomy doesn't know what it is then it sounds like it's not going to be one of the usual suspects or he's not very good at his job.

My guess is that you are seeing either Comet Lulin or asteroid 1999 AQ10.

Lulin is a new comet on its first pass (that we're aware of) its orbit isn't for sure but it should be becoming observable soon.

www.accuweather.com.../mtweb/content/Astronomy/archives/2009/01/global_hawk_new_horizo ns_anniversary_1.asp
www.merinews.com...
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

Lulin is projected to pass within .45 AU at its nearest approach, while 1999 AQ10 is projected to pass within .0112 AU Feb 18th.

Lulin isn't supposed to be visible to the naked eye until next month, so unless the astronomers are wrong, which is possible with a first-time visitor, that isn't it. The blinking or change in apparent size might be indicative that it's the asteroid tumbling and changing its aspect. I'm not enough of an astronomer to say definitively, though, just a guess.

As an odd note, Jpl's orbital diagram applet is no longer working, I hope they get it back soon.

Originally posted by -NewSense-
-sigh- Why are people still guessing what they are looking at?!

www.stellarium.org...

Will answer all your questions.

Perhaps some of our members don't want to expose thier location in a database such as stellarium. I know I wouldn't.

Perhaps some of us have been using stellarium for awhile...

Perhaps some of us have looked to see if it was Venus/Sirius.... the usual suspects should always be checked first.

The bright light last night WAS NOT Venus from my perspective along with using Stellarium.

Venus was almost 15 degrees away from where this "light" was located.

reply to post by TwiTcHomatic


Maybe it was this:

www.newswithviews.com...

www.marketwatch.com...

4 pages of a recurring star/comet/planet, can't someone just get an image of the object and any star formation in the vicinity?

If you have manual controls on your camera let me know and I'll give you a rundown on what settings to use..

reply to post by SLAYER69


Haha that would be the heat pump.

reply to post by UKWO1Phot


Novice here Took 2 pics in a VERY rural area of Davidson county N.C. 27292.
Object changes color like a prisim.It's sitting in my southern sky at aprox 20 degrees (using the fist on the horizon method).The big dipper is in my n,western sky if that helps any.Never loaded pictures to a blog or whatever this is but I will try if someone can help with the task.
This comet is much easier to see than earlier forecasted.

reply to post by edgecrusher2199

Wow, I see it too. And before I even read this post I was looking in the sky on the opposite side of my house and seeing lots of aircraft out tonight. It is probably nothing to worry about, but I don't know anything about the sky, so???

p.s. don't ask me for a pic, my computer is messed up.


[edit on 22-1-2009 by cancerian42]

[edit on 22-1-2009 by cancerian42]

Right before sunset, I was out going tro Krogers. Anyway I looked up at what I think are chemtrails, and notice a bright light in the sky. It is not a plane, I think it is a UFO, but then I remembered this thread and figured it was Venus. I just got this picture tonight, from my car on the way to the store.

The star is in the lower right corner.



ETA a direct link, the picture cuts off for some reason:

i85.photobucket.com...

[edit on 22-1-2009 by hotbakedtater]

Thanks Hotbaked and ANON..

Ok. We all now know there is a bright object that can't be easily identified via Stellarium.. So we need to pinpoint the object so those of us out there with decent cam kit can get a good shot (even a little video) for everyone to see.

According to Anon (Novice) we should be looking SE of the Big Dipper (In US)?

I'm UK so maybe not in my FOV? especially if low in the sky. Could it be Lulin?

If it is Lulin search for scorpius in stellarium, then it will cross Libra during the month. (looks like I won't get to see it ggrrrr)

Lulin images

or something else.
Lets try and find out. If it is Lulin this could be a great comet to watch over the coming months.

Edited to add position

[edit on 22/1/2009 by UKWO1Phot]

Ok...Here are some pics I took tonight between 8:30 and 9:15 in the direction of the WNW sky. Same as last night...

Clouds will make bright stars appear bigger, I saw venus the other night behind clouds, there were no other stars visible (not even the moon) but venus shone through brightly and looked a lot larger than on a clear night.

This may sound like a rude question; but that is not my intention. Are you completely sure you know the difference between the directions north and south? I ask this for a couple of reasons....

Originally posted by edgecrusher2199
OK I downloaded it and appearing in the vicinity it would have to be Venus I guess.... Whatever it was it disappeared off my horizon between 9:20-9:30pm.

The first reason I ask is that you said you downloaded Stellarium and that the object you saw appeared to be in the vicinity of Venus. What else is in the vicinity of Venus?...The SOUTHwest or west sky. Venus is currently visible in the southwest sky just after sunset; it then moves down towards the horizon and to the west. When Venus sets, (which is at about 9:20-9:30 PM EST; which is also the exact time you gave for the object you saw that set) it is almost due west. But currently it is not moving past due west before it sets. That means it's in the southern half of the sky. I'm confused how you could have located Venus on Stellarium and not noticed that it was displayed in the southern half of the sky. I'm not saying what you saw is Venus or not ; just giving some info about it.

The second reason I ask if you know the difference between North/South is about the three stars that you suspect could be the object you have been seeing.

Originally posted by edgecrusher2199 This leads me to believe that it was one of 3 stars...Sirius, Canopus, or Arcturus.

Sirius and Canopus are very much in the southern half of the sky. So much so, that they both spend time during the evening in the position of being exactly due south. And Arcturus would not be visible at all in TN (not until at least 11:30 PM EST) during the time frame you have mentioned. So I guess my question would be... Why would you mistake 2 stars (Sirius and Canopus) that are clearly in the southern sky; for an object that you have described as seeing at due north and/or WNW?

I'm just trying to help, I wan't to know what you're seeing just like everybody else. I can however tell you what the object is definitely not. It is not Comet Lulin. Comet Lulin will barely be visible to the naked eye even when it is at it's brightest around the middle to end of February. It is not and will not be something that is so bright that it jumps out at you.

reply to post by interestedalways

Originally posted by interestedalways

Curious, Isn't it?

I wonder how Siriusly we should take ti!

jLOL!

I’m Orion to take this Siriusly myself !

JLOL!

Seriously though, I’m not entirely sure as to which direction you guys are viewing this object in the sky but I have noticed that Venus is exceptionally bright right now, to the extent that even on a cloudy night with no other stars visible in the sky, it is still viewable.

I was just outside right now and was somewhat puzzled by an exceptionally bright star in the northwest sky at about 45 degrees from the horizon. I came in and just got on the ATS and saw this thread so I thought I would comment. The OP said he saw it in the south or southwest and I see it in the northwest, so... if it's Venus, she sure gets around alot. If not... who knows.

reply to post by Fromabove

Originally posted by Fromabove
I was just outside right now and was somewhat puzzled by an exceptionally bright star in the northwest sky at about 45 degrees from the horizon.

Judging by your description, that star is most likely Deneb. This SCREENSHOT shows the 3 stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair. The time of this shot is around 6:15PM CST (not sure exactly what time/location you saw the star). This would be right around sunset. At that time Deneb would be fairly close to being directly in the northwest, at about 30* from the horizon. This matches your description pretty well.

Of the 3 stars shown, Vega would be the brightest with a magnitude of 0.0 (Vega is very bright and is actually the reference point on which the brightness of other stars and planets are compared to and measured against. That is why it has a magnitude of 0.0) The star Altair would be dimmer than Vega with a .75 magnitude....and Deneb would be the dimmest of the 3 stars shown with a magnitude of 1.25. But a magnitude of 1.25 is still very bright and noticeable.

To further help you pinpoint Deneb, here is another SCREENSHOT that shows constellations in the NW around the time of 6:15PM CST. You can see that Deneb is in the constellation Cygnus.

To the OP (edgecrusher2199), if what you saw was in the northwest (your compass said WNW right?)...then maybe the star Deneb is what you've been noticing as well.

Here is Venus from the Northwest of UK (Looking roughly SW)




Caught the sparkle perfectly.

Here are the settings if you have a manual camera.:-

Canon 20D
ISO 800
f/5.6
Was using Canon 75-300mm IS (image shot @ 75mm)
4 second exposure

Mounted on tripod using remote switch.

reply to post by UKWO1Phot


Cool pic.
Thanks for posting it.

i saw that too from chicago it is on the southwest sky. in my op it is a spaceship
i never saw anything bright as this