Strange star in the sky

My friend and I noticed a very bright orangey star the other night about 9pm driving to Nottingham in the UK. It wasn't Venus as that was in the south-east, this one was more north-east and lower on the horizon, but it looked almost as bright as Venus although orangey rather than blue-white.

We've noticed it a few times lately but don't see it every clear night.

Photos aren't going to do much good since your cameras won't capture enough information to identify its position. We need to know what stars are around it.

If you don't have sky maps that identify constellations like Cassiopea, Bootes, Ursa Minor, and so forth, then you need one. It's not enough to say "I see a weird star in the sky" -- how do you know it's not supposed to be there if you don't really know what the sky looks like?

Check out this planetarium's home page with info about the sky:
www.sudekumplanetarium.com...

AND... get yourself their sky map. Go outside, find the major constellations, and mark on the chart where you are seeing the star:
www.sudekumplanetarium.com...


In order to find out what it really is, we need to know:
* are you all looking at the same thing?
* just exactly where is it?
* once you know what the constellations are, what part of which constellation is it in?
* do you see it throughout the evening or only at certain times?
* does it change position (move closer to other stars or move into another constellation) during the evening?

Then we can look it up with even better software and figure out what it is. There IS a new comet in the skies ... and there are a lot of satellites.

If you like informational videos, here's a nice one on the February sky:
amazing-space.stsci.edu...

So please go tell us what you are seeing and where you are seeing it. Saying "I see a strange star" is rather like saying "I see a strange white car in the shopping mall's parking lot." There needs to be a bit more information.

I DID NOT TAKE THIS, SOMEONE HERE AT ATS DID:
i43.tinypic.com...


It's NOT Venus..
I'm telling ya.

It's different spot, roughly, everynight

I noticed that 2 nights ago. I smoke outside because I have a little one, and I always look up. I saw a star that was really bright. Usually I would think its the north star or something, but this one is different. The moon was not out (not that I could see anyway). Scranton PA

OK. To those in the Northern Hemisphere in North America try this.

If you draw a line through Orions belt towards earth is the "star" in that line? If so there is a strong possibilty you are looking at Sirius. I live in Florida and can see it from about 9pm until 3am.

Just a thought.



[edit on 13-2-2009 by cookiesneedlovetoo]

reply to post by Byrd


I think I did just that - "Fire up Stellarium and load Toronto as your location. Change your time to 2am, then look in the SW. 3 stars (Pollux,Regulus,Procyon) should stick out at around 5 - 15 degrees ALT. Make a triangle out of those 3 stars and the mystery star should be somewhere in there (at around 2am)."

Peace

Before any hotheads jump in about time-zones, I'm not talking about 2am your time, I mean 2am Stellarium time.



[edit on 13-2-2009 by TheRealDonPedros]

reply to post by foremanator


but, the light being reflected originates from a ....... STAR!!
ta da

If it STARts out twinkling, how does the fracking planet change it to a
non-twinkling reflection please?

reply to post by Xcom2012

I live in Southwestern Ohio, and facing southwest is a brilliant large bluish "star" which I have noticed for the past few months. I checked several different space/astronomy websites, and the consensus is that it is Venus.

You are right about about the other planets, I read recently that Jupiter, and Saturn at least are going through what one writer called "global warming", and another writer said they were being "energized".

Originally posted by Lightmare

I have my own theories as to why were are seeing this star but I will keep that to myself for now.

I believe we may be thinking about the same thing. Atleast I suspect we do.

reply to post by Xcom2012


Yes I agree, I myself have never seen it as intense, it is dazzling to look at and try and figure it out, it appears the light rays around it are moving more frequently, but as someone posted the atmosphere between earth account for that twinkle.

reply to post by Sergeant Stiletto

I live in the Bronx, N.Y.C. and I have noticed an unusually large and extremely bright celestial body; what I've assumed to be Venus. The unusual thing is that it appears early on at dusk and is the only object in the sky highly visible before or at dusk. I found it odd because I always look up at the sky several times a day to observe the chemtrail operations of the day and I've never seen Venus look so bright and large that early on in the evening in all the years I've been observing the skies. I was surprised to learn that there are others wandering about that besides myself. I started noticing the bright object five to six months ago and from my position seems to be located north to northeast.

reply to post by Lightmare


I agree with you. I have seen this for the past month or so and it is huge and extremely bright. I have seen Venus plenty of times through out my life time and I have never seen Venus this big or bright before. I see it every night in the same location in the sky. at around dusk. From Maryland it is in the South Western sky at aprox. the 2 o'clock position.

I see it all the time, it's such a bright star, people say it's polaris the northern star.. it's not, i know it's not.

Wow, the "star" I see since I live up in the mountains is HUGE, so freaking huge, I was looking at it last night as I was bringing in groceries. It was an amazing sight, but considering my parents think I'm always high as it is, I could only stare at it while I was walking in to bring groceries.

It was huge though, it was not a planet, it was a very close star due to the size and brightness.

I keep thinking its Venus, its always in the same spot every time I look, however some nights it just about 'pulsates', and other nights, it dims to 'normal'...and well, some nights its just way too bright!

If the bright object in the sky is not Venus, then you should be seeing two very bright objects in the sky, since Venus is currently seen in the southwestern sky around sunset. Venus sets at 9:21pm Eastern Standard Time in the Eastern time zone on Feb 13, 2009. Go to www.wunderground.com, select a nearby weather station, scroll down, click on "View the Full Star Chart". Hide stars and constellations for a clearer view. You can view Venus' position for any hour that you select. Click on Venus to view magnitude, rise and set times.

reply to post by Chiiru


I have been seeing it too. I know you are in Alamo, and I'm in Las Cruces, so to be clear it's that extremely bright thing in the West? I have been seeing it and thinking, I've never seen a planet that bright, maybe it's planet x lol.

Originally posted by downtown436
reply to post by Chiiru

 

I have been seeing it too. I know you are in Alamo, and I'm in Las Cruces, so to be clear it's that extremely bright thing in the West? I have been seeing it and thinking, I've never seen a planet that bright, maybe it's planet x lol.

I know I see it, it looks like its going toward cruces (so, yes, west lol)

Why couldn't it be Nibiru?

Beginning in 1995, websites such as ZetaTalk have identified Nibiru or "Planet X" as a large brown dwarf currently within our planetary system, soon to pass relatively close to Earth. Sitchin disagrees with the timing of passage.[2]

en.wikipedia.org...(non-scientific)#Planets_proposed_by_Zecharia_Sitchin



Nobody has any logical explanation for this so I am open to looking and listening to anything. We all should be.

i saw a very bright star last night, due west from my location at about a 45 degree angle from the ground. I figured it was Venus, it looked very large though.