Unidentified object in the night sky. (NOT Venus)

Hello,
yesterday I posted a video clip under media.abovetopsecret.com relating to an unidentified object in the Orion constellation near Betelgeuse. I have no idea what this object could be and would welcome any opinions about it.

This is what it most certainly is NOT : a planet, lens flare or cloud reflection.

Thanks for input.

linky to media file


[edit on 13/2/09 by icblue]

Great job with the vid icblue
I have been watching this also www.abovetopsecret.com...
I hope you wouldn't mind if I gave a link to your vid

reply to post by icblue




Very interesting, indeed. I think you would find the thread named "STrange bright Star" interesting.

wow that is some great footage! Now what the frig could that thing be??

To the OP, where do you live and what direction was the object? Because Venus is visable right now to the west.

Please give co-ordinates of your observing position. It will help a lot.

Was this shot through a chicken wire fence? I can't understand how the star shifts when the camera moves, but not the fence. I guess it's not a fence (?)

WG3

reply to post by DroolsAlot


The object position was right under Betelgeuse, that at the time was at Az/Alt +233 10'/+36 20'. Observation location at 49 30' 58.01"N, 5 56' 00,36"E (Luxembourg, Belvaux) bearing SW Alt 370m. It was not Venus cause that planet passed below the horizon at 21:44 on 02/08/2009 local time. Observation time was at 00:12 till 00:30 on 02/09/2009.
According to Stelarium no planets were anywhere near the obs location.

reply to post by waveguide3


I used an older set of NV goggles (brand LUNOS) dating from the mid 90s with a 6x optical lens. I believe these are either first or second generation NV goggles. The chicken wire effect is part of the internal optical NV system. When used fixed on a tripod this effect helps visualize slight movements over a longer obs time since giving you reference points.
Behind these goggles I fixed a SONY DCR36 with 40x optical zoom.
Both the NV goggles and the SONY are IR sensitive. Also as a point of interest I couldn't locate said object without the IR setting.
Hope this helps your question.

Very intersting indeed. It's hard to see how it could be explained. Certainly not Venus, a comet, or another star.

Have you observed it again since you took the video?

Edit: Have you checked the positions of satellites and the ISS on the time of the sighting?

[edit on 13/2/09 by AngelInterceptor]

reply to post by AngelInterceptor


I was not able to make another obs since then, cause the sky has ever been covered with clouds. (darn European winters).
I'm eagerly awaiting another clear night to check on Betelgeuse again.
I don't think it's the ISS or a satellite since the angular movement during the obs time (~ 30-45 min) is just a few degrees. Any satellite or the ISS would move this distance within seconds.
What intrigues me most is this tubular or lenticular appearance.

I have been seeing moving star-like objects around the constellation Orion as well. I actually posted a thread on it two days ago, because I was so shocked at what I was seeing. I have never seen a UFO before, and its possible that I still havent, yet I couldn't explain the movment of the lights.

One thing the experience has done is given me a very strong desire to keep an eye on the sky now at night. Hopefully more people start looking towards the sky because of threads like yours, and eventually we are bound to catch some unmistakable video proof.

Nice video and I really like your setup and the use of IR and NV.

I notice that the Moon was pretty full and only just above Orion at the time. Aiming the camera in that direction might create light effects within the lens system. The effect may have disappeared when you panned down to Orion's belt, which was further away from the Moon. The apparent shift in position of the object after a certain time may be just the effect of the Moon's change in position relative to Betelgeuse.

I think it would be interesting to repeat the video capture on a moonless night and also to point the camera at Sirius, to see what a very bright source produces through the lens system. I think you should examine the performance of the camera/NV system under more varying light conditions to determine if the object could be an optical artefact.

WG3

again, great find and i will be watching the sky here in Phoenix until 3am or so tonight. everybody, keep everyone else updated!

just editing to say WOW, whatever it is is freakin HUGE.

[edit on 13-2-2009 by mpriebe81]

what is the explanation of all the honeycomb shapes in the background?

Is this just a part of the camera or filming experience?

Thank you for that video! I'm no expert on astronomy or meteorology so I can't attest it being cloud movement or a passing celestial object. However, it is rather intriguing!

good post,

Mars saturn?

I think mars is in that area of beatl in early hours of morning and isnt saturn rising early morning before dawn into leo from beatl in UK?

Elf.

L123 M c NEIL’S NEBULA IN ORION: THE OUTBURST HISTORY C. Bricen˜o ...
On 2004 February 9, the discovery of a new nebula, roughly. 12 south of the reflection nebula NGC 2068 (M78) in the. L1630 molecular cloud of the Orion ...

www.iop.org...

[PS]
Near-Infrared Imaging Observations of the Orion A-W Star Forming ...
File Format: Adobe PostScript - View as HTML
infrared objects is visible on the K band image, including an IRAS source .... outow was found in an unbiased survey of the Orion southern molecular cloud

www.chjaa.org...

Most of Orion's visually impressive stars don't stand out, but bright Betelgeuse does appear as a small purplish dot just above center. Immediately to the right of Betelgeuse and prominent in the IRAS skyview, expanding debris from a stellar explosion, a supernova remnant, is seen as a large bright ring-shaped feature.

apod.nasa.gov...


[edit on 13-2-2009 by zorgon]

Nothing to do with an accident between 2 satellites is it?

Not sure of dates or vicinities, can anyone rule this out?

Originally posted by icblue
I was not able to make another obs since then, cause the sky has ever been covered with clouds. (darn European winters).

What intrigues me most is this tubular or lenticular appearance.

The weather here in the UK has been beautifully clear the past few days. My telescope is not set up right now, but if it is clear again tomorrow night I might unpack it from hibernation and take a look myself. I can't take video but if I see anything I'll piggyback my monster lens (opteka LR 1300HD) and take a picture. At the very least it will rule out any lens flare effect.

The shape is intriguing, I agree. My first thought was a galaxy, but that would move across the sky at the same rate as betelgeuse and not move away from it, and I'm not aware of a galaxy in that position.

I must admit it has me both puzzled and fascinated.

Edit to add:

Originally posted by nerbot
Nothing to do with an accident between 2 satellites is it?

They collided over Suberia. There is debris.

U.S. Strategic Command is tracking hundreds of satellite fragments. In the 48+ hours since the collision, the debris swarm has spread around both orbits. Experts characterize the distribution as a pair of "clumpy rings"; one ring traces the orbit of Iridium 33, the other traces the orbit of Kosmos 2251.

www.spaceweather.com...

It could be related. You'd have to know the exact position of the debris in the sky in relation to your location to be sure.

Another edit: What kind of telescope are you using?

[edit on 13/2/09 by AngelInterceptor]

reply to post by waveguide3


You make some valid observations, but basically I could rule them out since the 6x optical lens on the NV goggels has an extendable reflection protection cylinder that I used just to prevent this. Also if it would be a reflection from the moon (that was basically up to my left) on the lens then it would not move with the object during left-right adjustments but contrary to it.
I don't think it's a flaw in the optics either since in that case, similar though fainter artifacts would have appeared as I zoomed in on the stars in the Orion belt.