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[Dawn]

I see this flashing star every night when I go outside it seems to be NE of my front porch (I live in upstate NY). When I see it is always flashing red, white, blue and green.and if we stare at it for a certain amount of time it looks as if it's moving side to side. My husband thinks it's a UFO and I think it's a planet. It's brighter around midnight Eastern time. Please help us to figure out what this is.

[Centaur]

May 15, 2016 23:08:54 GMT -6 Dawn said:

I see this flashing star every night when I go outside it seems to be NE of my front porch (I live in upstate NY). When I see it is always flashing red, white, blue and green.and if we stare at it for a certain amount of time it looks as if it's moving side to side. My husband thinks it's a UFO and I think it's a planet. It's brighter around midnight Eastern time. Please help us to figure out what this is.

Welcome to the discussion group, Dawn. That would have been my name had I been a girl. 

You were almost certainly observing Vega, the third brightest fixed star (not planet) that can be seen from your latitude. Due to its significant northern declination, it takes quite a while to move well above your horizon in the northeast as it rises. While it is low, its light is travelling through much atmosphere before it reaches your eyes. The scintillation effect that has on starlight has been described in earlier posts within this thread. It causes the appearance of twinkling and color shifts. The degree to which this occurs depends on atmospheric conditions during that evening.

Vega will rise and reach near your zenith about four minutes earlier each night. In late summer it will be seen near your zenith during mid-evening.

[cyberbot]

i used to work outside at night, in my area, unspoiled by the big cities light pollution.
you wouldnt believe the meteors ive seen. all colors, all directions. ive seen green and yellow ones burst into showers like a roman-candle. different metal contents burn different colors.
green most likely copper.

[Ken N]

Sorry for the late response but here's my research from my accordance this object is...

 

...Capella, in Auriga (close to Triangulum)

 

This particular bright star often amazes observers, especially at this time of year, because it starts off low on the horizon at around 11 PM to midnight, at just about 50 degrees magnetic, and then slowly rises. It's quite bright, and when seen through a lot of atmosphere (because it's low on the horizon) it twinkles and flashes with many colors produced by the distortion of the air, which creates a prism effect.  When seen through a small refractor telescope, the magnification makes the distortion and colors even more pronounced.

Youtu.be/5egi qoWebo I hope this link finds you well I dl it last night 8/27/16 I have a few bids plz subscribe I am not 100% sure of the connection or if there is to Nibiru but there's is some very interesting things correlated with the Pleiadians who are mentioned to be operating it's behavior.. Thanks for watching be well friend enjoy.

[Ken N]

youtu.be/5egj_q0Webo Capella

[Centaur]

Aug 28, 2016 11:35:28 GMT -6 Ken N said:

Sorry for the late response but here's my research from my accordance this object is...

...Capella, in Auriga (close to Triangulum) 

This particular bright star often amazes observers, especially at this time of year, because it starts off low on the horizon at around 11 PM to midnight, at just about 50 degrees magnetic, and then slowly rises. It's quite bright, and when seen through a lot of atmosphere (because it's low on the horizon) it twinkles and flashes with many colors produced by the distortion of the air, which creates a prism effect.  When seen through a small refractor telescope, the magnification makes the distortion and colors even more pronounced.

youtu.be/5egj_q0Webo I hope this link finds you well I dl it last night 8/27/16 I have a few bids plz subscribe I am not 100% sure of the connection or if there is to Nibiru but there's is some very interesting things correlated with the Pleiadians who are mentioned to be operating it's behavior.. Thanks for watching be well friend enjoy.

Welcome to the message board, Ken. Let's hope you choose to register as a permanent member.

Thanks for producing a video and providing further explanation of the atmospheric scintillation that affects views of Capella as it rises through the northeast at this time of year. Capella is the most frequent answer given in this thread for a star that people observe twinkling.

[Vinod Kumar]

Thanks for share it.

[Joshua]

Jul 27, 2009 12:08:53 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Cat,

Without more direct info, I can only speculate.

I took a search of the topic and they are all generic and unspecific. This is one of the better ones:

I've been noticing a star as described like the one in this thread as well. Over the past 6-12 months at least. I'll see it once a week or so, (if I happen to be awake between 2-5am). But tonight, it was flashing A LOT brighter than usual. It must be a star because of the fact that it "flickers". Can't be an airplane because it has an exact orbit on a monthly basis and doesn't disappear after 30 minutes or not at all. You can see it all night.

By the way, this is my position of observance- I'm in central Florida & I always see it at night time after midnight. Tonight I saw it @ 4am, stood there for 20 minutes, and it never went away. I tell you, it's freakin awesome. Brightest thing I've ever seen in the sky besides the moon. It's even craizier than airplane or helicopter lights. When I look at it, I'm facing east southeast, (I'd say the compass bearing is 100 degrees +/- 20 degrees @ it's height above the horizon at the time was about 20 degrees at 4am eastern.

It's very interesting surely. I have no idea what it is. Maybe planet X/Nibiru? If so, then that means planet x is not a planet; it would be a binary star. It's definetly not a UFO or an airplane, (I'm a pilot...I should know). One source on the internet describes the possibility of it being a Supernova. That hypoothesis is very plausible as well.

I don't believe that it is anything unusual and with the limited info available...I would say it's the star "Antares" in Scorpio - low in the south. Flickering different colors due to the atmospheric refraction disturbances. Could be Saturn as well, but I believe it's Antares.

But you mention it's in the W NW, and that would put the star Regulus in position for the sighting. The lower it gets to the horizon, the more it will flicker.

________________

Side note: Here is a far out Theory....

I heard on a radio program that our Sun is part of a Binary system - with the companion being a brown dwarf, (Nibiru ?), in a 3, 600 year orbital period. In that it is coming back around, in synch with the Mayan calendar or...2012. The mysterious object is supposed to be coming up from the southern hemisphere in a right angle orbit to the Sun and and making first appearance through the Sagittarius constellation.

Maybe what smacked into Jupiter recently was debris influenced by this object?

I doubt it, but let's keep looking.

_____________

If you hear more on this, let us know, but I shall make some observations this evening and see if I can catch this multicolored object others have been seeing.

for years I have been seeing these blinking stars for years I did some research last year and there's a couple YouTube videos where guy has a major telescope with a video on it these stars are actually moving in this guy so he said it must be some kind of comment although the one we're seeing in Florida I'm also seeing and have been seeing and had a vision this star is moving but if it's not moving in the sky and staying along with her constellation then that means it's moving directly at us or away from us I think you were right about the debris in Jupiter and I think we are in for a cataclysmic event that is 200 years overdue hopefully Mother Earth can Juke and Jive and get around it to save some of us

[Greg]

I heard that its the star that is shutting down, and we can see it for such a long time because its so far away that the light is still traveling and is presented in red white and blue light. Not really sure though, but it makes sence.

[Centaur]

Oct 16, 2017 6:30:46 GMT -6 Greg said:

I heard that its the star that is shutting down, and we can see it for such a long time because its so far away that the light is still traveling and is presented in red white and blue light. Not really sure though, but it makes sence.

Welcome to the discussion group, Greg.

I doubt what you suggest is actually what you have witnessed.

Please provide information about your location, the date and time of night, the direction you were looking, and the brightness of the star relative to others.

At this time of year we often get questions about the bright twinkling star rising slowly in the northeast. That is Capella in the constellation Auriga.

[Ron]

I witnessed appeared to be three separate stars in a equilateral triangle. they were all changing colors. it seems strange but appeared as if they were "communicating" or synchronized. whether that's true or not, I somehow felt they were connected.
they they appear to be very far, or closer but not very bright. I considered satellites butt they didn't appear to move. they changed from Green, red, and one other color I can't recall.
they were straight up above me, not anywhere near the horizon. so don't think it was refraction or whatever the others are speculating. it was also not Venusaur or Jupiter, I know where those are and what they look like. they were not nearly as bright either.

[Centaur]

Aug 11, 2018 22:53:02 GMT -6 Ron said:

I witnessed appeared to be three separate stars in a equilateral triangle. they were all changing colors. it seems strange but appeared as if they were "communicating" or synchronized. whether that's true or not, I somehow felt they were connected.
they they appear to be very far, or closer but not very bright. I considered satellites butt they didn't appear to move. they changed from Green, red, and one other color I can't recall.
they were straight up above me, not anywhere near the horizon. so don't think it was refraction or whatever the others are speculating. it was also not Venusaur or Jupiter, I know where those are and what they look like. they were not nearly as bright either.

Welcome to the message board, Ron. Where are you located, and at what time were you observing? That would determine which stars were nearly "straight up" in your zenith. How widely separated were the stars?

During mid-evening at this time of year the Summer Triangle passes near the zenith for observers at mid-northern latitudes. That consists of the first magnitude stars Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus. They are bright, but not nearly as bright as Venus, Jupiter or the current Mars. Their separations average about 30°. 

The reasons for the twinkling and color shifts have been well explained earlier in this thread. Depending on atmospheric conditions, these effects can occur for stars at any altitude above the horizon.