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[Paulie pchris00]

I can't quit because it's my excuse to get outside at work. Say you're taking a smoke break, fine, be quick.

Say you're taking a break to see Venus rising, or a Galilean shadow transit, and you're some kind of weirdo freak. :/

[parrillacp]

I know these posts are from more then 2 years ago. But thought I'd still ask. I live in Portland Oregon, my kids an I like to lay outside and Look at the stars and we've been doing this summer. We've been doing this all summer. My son pointed out a star that was flashing red,blue and white. We hadn't noticed it before, and every night we go out to look at and try to figure what it is. Standing NE and roughly 50dg up. As bright as can be from 10pm to sun up with the slightest movement,

[Centaur]

Aug 19, 2013 2:04:53 GMT -6 parrillacp said:

I know these posts are from more then 2 years ago. But thought I'd still ask. I live in Portland Oregon, my kids an I like to lay outside and Look at the stars and we've been doing this summer. We've been doing this all summer. My son pointed out a star that was flashing red,blue and white. We hadn't noticed it before, and every night we go out to look at and try to figure what it is. Standing NE and roughly 50dg up. As bright as can be from 10pm to sun up with the slightest movement,

Welcome to the discussion group, parillacp.

If you peruse this old thread you will see frequent mention of the star Capella in the constellation Auriga. The posts normally repeat around this time of the year. Capella is one of the brightest stars in the sky.

Due to its far northern declination, Capella takes a considerable amount of time to rise through the northeastern sky as it circles the North Star due to the Earth's rotation. Thus it remains low for quite a while and its light must travel through much swirling atmosphere and dust before it reaches your eyes. That leads to the twinkling and color changes as described and explained in the earlier posts in this thread.

Capella, as with all stars, will repeat its movements four minutes earlier each night due to the Earth shifting in its orbit around the Sun. After a year the timing returns to the original. I hope that you and your family continue to find pleasure in viewing the majestic starry sky.

[Randi]

I am in Idaho 50 miles from Boise. I have been asking about these "stars" for months. I have noticed many of these and they flash blue red and green and white. They often create a pattern in the sky of a triangle with three points. I have also noticed on two different occasions a star figure in the sky with five points to it, each point is a so called star. I have video of these stars. I look at them nightly now because they seem to be more active in the past few months than what I observed before. By active I mean they are brighter and more of them are appearing. In one video it looks like a white ball is coming closer and getting bigger and brighter and then then image gets smaller and dim. I would love to know what they are. Even if someone wants to give me some story. Its driving me nuts looking at the sky and seeing these and not knowing. 
Anyone know anything... please email me..
[e-mail]

[Centaur]

Mar 30, 2014 3:23:16 GMT -6 Randi said:

I am in Idaho 50 miles from Boise. I have been asking about these "stars" for months. I have noticed many of these and they flash blue red and green and white. They often create a pattern in the sky of a triangle with three points. I have also noticed on two different occasions a star figure in the sky with five points to it, each point is a so called star. I have video of these stars. I look at them nightly now because they seem to be more active in the past few months than what I observed before. By active I mean they are brighter and more of them are appearing. In one video it looks like a white ball is coming closer and getting bigger and brighter and then then image gets smaller and dim. I would love to know what they are. Even if someone wants to give me some story. Its driving me nuts looking at the sky and seeing these and not knowing. 
Anyone know anything... please email me..
[e-mail]

Welcome to the discussion group, Randi.

To help you we need to know the dates and times of your observations, and the direction and altitude in degrees above the horizon of the stars. A degree is twice the width of a Full Moon, and the zenith is ninety degrees above the horizon. In degrees, how widely spread are the stars? Also, in which direction are you from Boise?

Perusing earlier posts in this thread you will find the explanations for flashing and color shifts. You may even be able to identify the specific stars you were viewing. The video anomalies may be due to camera artifacts. Based on limited information, my first guess will be that you have been observing the bright stars in the constellation Orion.

[Paulie pchris00]

A smart phone app like Google Sky, a planisphrere, or even a star chart could help figure this out. There's really no way ant of us can know what somebody else is looking at from another part of the country, or another part of the world without some really specific information like time, latitude/longitude, and as specifically where in the sky as possible. Also, I have no idea what the air traffic is like there. I know the flight patterns where I observe often, and can recognize airplanes far in the distance, that seem to be moving very slowly, and look like stars. Video of the stars is almost as useless as a vague description. A time exposure photograph that reveals the entire star field would be okay; then you could match the stars in the photo to the patterns in a star chart.

[lynn]

Hi, the star I saw just a few minutes back , ie on this midnight of 25th april 2014,around 00:20 a.m. , was blinking white and then red and white and red and so on. I particularly noticed it because unlike other other stars which were not moving at all, this particular star was moving quite rapidly and disappeared before reaching the horizon maybe in the clouds. Can you tell me when does this happen ?? Or if at all its a star ??

[Paulie pchris00]

Hi Lynn. If it was moving rapidly, it almost certainly wasn't a star or a planet. If you go back and read some of the previous posts, you'll see that we really can't help much without knowing your location, what direction you were looking, and about how high the object was when you first saw it. Also, I don't know what you consider to be rapid. My guess, though, is that you were seeing an aircraft, or possibly the International Space Station.

[DaveMitsky]

Stellar scintillation and atmospheric prismatic dispersion are responsible for the flickering (twinkling) and changing colors sometimes seen when stars are close to the horizon.  There is absolutely nothing unusual about these phenomena.  

www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/twinkle.shtml

www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/107190.aspx

www.astropix.com/HTML/L_STORY/Atmospheric_Prismatic_Dispersion.HTM

I have on many occasions seen bright stars such as Sirius, Capella, and Arcturus exhibit these effects quite dramatically when they are low in the sky, where the atmosphere is the most dense.   Even the bright planets will twinkle and change color when close to the horizon and the astronomical "seeing" is very bad.

www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/beating-the-seeing/

www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=555

Dave Mitsky

[Gideon Doubleday]

Hello.

I myself see it here in Northeast Florida in the sky to the southeast. What I'm seeing is vary brilliant, low in the sky, and (seemingly) fixed. I can see colors other than red white and blue. I see green and maybe even yellow. It's beautiful.

[Gideon Doubleday]

*very

Also, it's about 35 degrees above the horizon from where I'm standing, and the date is 8/30/2014. I'm curious about which star it is.

[Centaur]

Aug 31, 2014 3:55:23 GMT -6 Gideon Doubleday said:

Hello.

I myself see it here in Northeast Florida in the sky to the southeast. What I'm seeing is vary brilliant, low in the sky, and (seemingly) fixed. I can see colors other than red white and blue. I see green and maybe even yellow. It's beautiful.

Aug 31, 2014 5:01:45 GMT -5 Gideon Doubleday said:

*very



Also, it's about 35 degrees above the horizon from where I'm standing, and the date is 8/30/2014. I'm curious about which star it is.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the discussion group, Gideon. Thanks for your relatively thorough description of your observation. I'm glad it gave you pleasure. The sky is indeed filled with wonders.

Based on your posts' time stamps, apparently you observed this about 06:00 EDT during the morning of 2014 AUG 31. Near your southeast at an altitude of about 45° would have been the magnificent constellation Orion, including its two brightest stars Rigel and Betelgeuse. However, beneath Orion at an altitude of about 20° would have been the fixed star that is easily the most brilliant, Sirius in the constellation Canis Major. It is usually the one that newcomers to this thread comment about during early mornings at this time of year. It will dominate the southern sky during mid-winter evenings.

[Alabamatom]

I am seeing the star right now at 3:25 AM From Mobile, Al. It seems to be just below Orions belt low to the Horizon. My location is Latitude: 30.646664 Longitude: -88.252773 and the star appears to be South East from this position. It is currently September 21, 2014. I seem to see is around the same time every-night in the same approximate location. It blinks red, blue, green and white and is pretty bright. The intensity goes from very bright to nearly unable to see at times with little change to the color changes. This is a very fascinating celestial body.

[Dallas guest.]

I am seeing it too. I've been looking at the night sky for over forty years and have never seen a star exhibit this type/ intensity of scintillation. It appears brighter than Jupiter. I looked up as I was walking into the house and thought, "that's odd, why would a helicopter have police red and blue strobes on it? " when I noticed it was stationary in relation to the stars around it I pulled out my binoculars to confirm it was not an aircraft.

Very interesting phenomena. If it were not 4 am I would break out the charts and figure out what star it is.

[Dallas Guest]

Sept 21, 2014 5:14:06 GMT -6 @rocketdoc said:

Sept 21, 2014 3:10:20 GMT -6 Dallas guest. said:

I am seeing it too. I've been looking at the night sky for over forty years and have never seen a star exhibit this type/ intensity of scintillation. It appears brighter than Jupiter. I looked up as I was walking into the house and thought, "that's odd, why would a helicopter have police red and blue strobes on it? " when I noticed it was stationary in relation to the stars around it I pulled out my binoculars to confirm it was not an aircraft.

Very interesting phenomena. If it were not 4 am I would break out the charts and figure out what star it is.

The star you are seeing is Sirius. The phenomenon that it exhibits is called "atmospheric prismatic dispersion". Due to the low apparent altitude of the star it's light has to travel through a lot of dense and turbulent air to reach our eyes. This air acts like a prismatic lens breaking up the light into component colors depending upon the density of the air (which is always changing thus the variations in color). Denser air will have a higher refractive index than thinner air. An example is in the summer as heat waves coming off of a hot road. As Sirius is the brightest star in the heavens it exhibits this phenomenon more than any of the other stars.

Eric

That explanation definitely makes sense, but there is still one variable that is still unaccounted for. What causes the increase in apparent magnitude? I have observes Sirius many times and it never appeared to have the brightness that I saw last night. Could this be a tricking my eye due to the swinging spectrum? 

[Centaur]

Dallas Guest Eric wrote: "That explanation definitely makes sense, but there is still one variable that is still unaccounted for. What causes the increase in apparent magnitude? I have observes Sirius many times and it never appeared to have the brightness that I saw last night. Could this be a tricking my eye due to the swinging spectrum?"

I'd attribute it to seeing Sirius for the first time in months, and perhaps having forgotten its brilliance that it is nearly four times greater than any of the other fixed stars visible from north of the tropics.

[Centaur]

Sept 21, 2014 2:39:56 GMT -6 Alabamatom said:

I am seeing the star right now at 3:25 AM From Mobile, Al. It seems to be just below Orions belt low to the Horizon. My location is Latitude: 30.646664 Longitude: -88.252773 and the star appears to be South East from this position. It is currently September 21, 2014. I seem to see is around the same time every-night in the same approximate location. It blinks red, blue, green and white and is pretty bright. The intensity goes from very bright to nearly unable to see at times with little change to the color changes. This is a very fascinating celestial body.

Welcome to the discussion group, Tom and Eric.

As Rocket Doc explained to Eric, the star is Sirius and is far and away the brightest fixed star visible from north of the tropics. It rose this morning for Chicagoans at 02:35 CDT, and will do so about four minutes earlier each succeeding night. That given time will vary somewhat for other North American locations. As Rocket Doc has explained along with many others in this old thread, the twinkling and color shifts are due to atmospheric prismatic dispersion which occurs most dramatically when the star is close to the horizon and its light must pass through much atmosphere to reach your eyes. Sirius will dominate the southern sky during mid-winter evenings.

[Helene]

I have seen this star for years, from the East Coast and West, so why is everyone saying its new? I thought it was betelgeuse, but I must be wrong. Tonight (10/12/2014), I was looking for the meteor shower at 3am, and saw it, its always there, and tonight I only saw it flashing white, but I am near city lights, if out in the country, you can see it.

[Paulie pchris00]

Oct 12, 2014 6:11:43 GMT -6 Helene said:

I have seen this star for years, from the East Coast and West, so why is everyone saying its new? I thought it was betelgeuse, but I must be wrong. Tonight (10/12/2014), I was looking for the meteor shower at 3am, and saw it, its always there, and tonight I only saw it flashing white, but I am near city lights, if out in the country, you can see it.

It's not "always there." Find it with a telescope, then once you find it, do not move the telescope. Then see how long the star is "there." The planet we live on rotates. It orbits the closest star, the Sun. We are constantly moving, and because of our rotation and orbital motion, the stars and planets seem to be constantly moving through our sky. The term "fixed stars" does not mean the stars don't move, but rather because of the incredible distance, they don't seem to move in relation to other stars.

[Kriswak86]

I live in AZ and have seen it the past 2 nights and was wondering what it was and then I saw this post. I thought it was a plane coming in but never got any closer just higher obviously through the night.

[AJS]

Problem with the explanations, and no offense. I'm in Ohio and there are multiple objects with this description on starry nights. One is so close that I'd (uneducated) guess it's within 10 miles! This one is SW, also one South(farther). I've seen one fall slowly, but the majority of the time, stationary. Even though I'm extremely uneducated on astronomy, I'm positive I'm not looking at a star or planets. Positive. Just giving you my perspective.

[Centaur]

Dec 12, 2014 11:49:10 GMT -6 AJS said:

Even though I'm extremely uneducated on astronomy, I'm positive I'm not looking at a star or planets. Positive.

Please become at least a bit educated in astronomy before posting assertions.

Meanwhile, if you were observing shortly after sunset, the one in the southwest is likely Venus: CurtRenz.com/venus.html

[AJS]

But I have witnessed this since the beginning of September, making it unlikely to be Venus. Also, I saw one of these "flashing objects" lower to behind a tree line. I reported that on a different site. I am not trying to be rude, I just feel like people are getting the run around about this thing, or things in our sky. Sometimes I feel like our astronomers in America were sworn to secrecy about this matter. Drones? Satellites? Thank you for your feedback, and your expertise. I'll indeed be looking for Venus now:)

[Centaur]

Dec 12, 2014 20:33:18 GMT -6 AJS said:

But I have witnessed this since the beginning of September, making it unlikely to be Venus. Also, I saw one of these "flashing objects" lower to behind a tree line. I reported that on a different site. I am not trying to be rude, I just feel like people are getting the run around about this thing, or things in our sky. Sometimes I feel like our astronomers in America were sworn to secrecy about this matter. Drones? Satellites? Thank you for your feedback, and your expertise. I'll indeed be looking for Venus now:)

You're welcome. And you’re right: All astronomers everywhere in the world, whether professional or amateur, friend or foe, for over sixty years have been sworn to lie to non-astronomers by some mysterious international controller who has unknown motives. If you join this message board, you will become an astronomer and forced to swear allegiance to the same leak-proof international conspiracy. Shhh, don't tell.  

In the meantime, if you provide your precise location, exact times & dates of observation, directions along the horizon, altitude in degrees above the horizon, brightness, color, twinkling and movement, then we will attempt to identify what you have observed. 

[AJS]

Uh, perhaps NASA-class types;) Not sitting here in an aluminum foil hat lol. Don't believe in aliens, it's something much more intense...people, government, us. Or, could be wrong.

[Ricky P.]

I've seen this star for the better part of my life. I'm originally froMassachusetts and live in Los Angeles now. The star was out tonight very bright around 1am in the Western sky. I really never gave it much thought but tonight it was low to the horizon and as bright as I've ever seen it. By 4am it was higher off the horizon and not as bright but I was home and got out my binoculars. I could clearly see it twinkling from blue to red to green. I've always been a star gazer and this star was visible in Massachusetts too. It moves with the rest of the stars and is DEFINITELY NOT a planet. I'm going to look at a star chart and locate it based on the 1am PST time I saw it tonight at its brightest. Again, I've seen this star my whole life and I'm in my 50's. I'll come back and comment on what star I believe it is based on time, direction and degrees from horizon.

[Paulie pchris00]

If you saw it in the west at 1:00 AM, and it was higher at 4:00 AM, you weren't looking at the same object the second time. Despite what you might think from watching The Daily Show, the Earth rotates from east to west, and therefore objects in the eastern sky are rising, and setting in the western sky.

[Centaur]

Jan 22, 2015 7:16:40 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

If you saw it in the west at 1:00 AM, and it was higher at 4:00 AM, you weren't looking at the same object the second time. Despite what you might think from watching The Daily Show, the Earth rotates from east to west, and therefore objects in the eastern sky are rising, and setting in the western sky.

That was a fine explanation, Paulie, except a point on the Earth's surface rotates toward the east. That causes objects seen in the sky to appear to move from east to west.

[Centaur]

Jan 22, 2015 6:52:15 GMT -6 Ricky P. said:

I've seen this star for the better part of my life. I'm originally froMassachusetts and live in Los Angeles now. The star was out tonight very bright around 1am in the Western sky. I really never gave it much thought but tonight it was low to the horizon and as bright as I've ever seen it. By 4am it was higher off the horizon and not as bright but I was home and got out my binoculars. I could clearly see it twinkling from blue to red to green. I've always been a star gazer and this star was visible in Massachusetts too. It moves with the rest of the stars and is DEFINITELY NOT a planet. I'm going to look at a star chart and locate it based on the 1am PST time I saw it tonight at its brightest. Again, I've seen this star my whole life and I'm in my 50's. I'll come back and comment on what star I believe it is based on time, direction and degrees from horizon.

As Paulie notes, you must have been looking at two different celestial objects. One seen in the west will have set beneath the horizon when looking three hours later. During the short period of one night a planet does appear to move with the rest of the stars as the Earth rotates. Despite what may be written in some textbooks, planets can appear to twinkle and change colors amid turbulent atmospheric conditions. Your promised detailed report of time, azimuth and altitude should be revealing.

[Annika]

I know this is late, but I am observing it right now as I type. I've read some of the discussion, but with that many theories I can't be sure of what it is. Surely, it's not a rare phenomen as I've seen it almost every winter outside my bedroom window.