OK, I have no knowledge of astronomy whatsoever. I can find Orion and the Big Dipper (and the moon) in the night sky, and that is just about it. But there is one celestial object that keeps grabbing my attention, and I’m wondering what it is. I’ll describe it as best I can:
OK, I’m in Memphis, Tennessee. At 3 a.m., December 27, 2002, this object is about 20 degrees above the horizon. If North is 12 o’clock, this object is about 2:30. (I.e., slightly south of east-by-northeast.)
Also, it’s pretty bright; tonight is slightly overcast, meaning I can see the moon and a few stars, but only the brightest stars shine through the haze.
And finally, it twinkles. It looks white, but if you watch it, it clearly twinkles and it’s twinkling red in with the white. I’ve noticed this on clear nights as well.
Any ideas on what this might be? It’s beautiful, and I’d love to know what I’m looking at.
The description makes it sound like a bright star.
If that’s correct, it’s probably Arcturus, one of the brighter stars in the sky, located in the constellation Bootes. If you can trace the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, and continue it, it would intersect Arcturus.
I ran my planetarium program, and based on the observing location, time, and position in the sky, it is most likely Arcturus. Follow Genseric’s directions to see whether you’re able to find it that way or not.
Arcturus, by the way, is the brightest (night-time) star in the northern sky, and fourth brightest overall; it is a red giant – all these factors are more indicators that that’s what you saw.
As for the twinkling, it is caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere.
BTW, FWIW, those of us in the South of the U.S. who have a clear unobstructed view to the south of where we are can see something unique these nights – about midnight, slightly above the southern horizon, is Canopus, the second brightest star (in apparent magnitude), which is normally below the horizon for most of the U.S. most of the year.
jackelope, see if this interactive sky chart helps. The location should be set for Memphis already, and the time is given in UT (Universal Time), which should be 6 hours ahead of your local time (Memphis is Central Time, yes?)
I’m in Memphis too…yes, that’s Arcturus you’re seeing. I see it when I go smoke on my back porch in the early morning (heh - have 5 days off for the holiday, so I’m staying up late every night )
Another vote for Arcturus. It caught my attention a few winters ago in Iowa, and your description of its location matches my observation. It’s a gorgeous star if you’re outside big city lights, just about the brightest in the sky. Once you’ve identified it, you can’t miss it again.
minty green, I lived in Ames from '97 to '99, and I recall the stargazing there being absolutely incredible. Especially on a clear winter night, I’d go out in the backyard and look up at the sky and after about 30 seconds to let my eyes adjust, BOOM, suddenly I could see about 1000 stars for every one that I could see at first. It was sublime. Of course I had no idea what any of them were, but it was beautiful.
Polycarp, I just noticed your location. That’s a dry county, as I recall; my condolences. I remember driving to State Line Package at the Georgia border to pick up some beer. Still, I bet you can do some serious stargazing up there in the mountains.
I’m not sure where you think I am, jackalope, but we’re east-northeast of Raleigh on the outskirts of the developed area, more or less on the fall line between coastal plain and Piedmont, and it would come as a shock to the general store down the road to know that the beer and malt liquor that constitutes about 45% of their sales on a reasonable guess is illegal here. (But Johnston County two miles south is dry, and there are a lot of dry counties in the mountains west of Asheville, as I recall.)
Wow, if I had to guess, I would have picked Vega in Lyra! Vega’s a close second with Arcturus at -0.06 and Vega at 0.00 relative magnitude. (not that Vega is visible under the conditions described within the OP.) - Jinx
I have wondered about similar objects that I have seen lately in the eastern sky in the evening. They are VERY bright and seem to twinkle red, green and gold. I don’t think they are stars, they are definitly not aircraft as they seem to stay in one place for a very long time.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to take measurements, not being properly equipped, but I have to guess that they are satelites. I am in coastal Maine. I saw 3 of them at wide intervals on Friday night about 18:30 ish.
Can anyone tell me that is what they are, and if so, how can they be so bright?
toadspittle, if you click on each of the stars’ names shown in your link, you’ll see (among other things) their locations given in Right Ascension and Declination. R.A. is the celestial equivalent of longitude on a terrestrial map, and dec. is equivalent to latitude. You should notice that all the stars brighter than Arcturus have negative declinations, meaning that they fall south of the celestial equator and are thus, as Genseric pointed out, southern stars. I don’t know if this is what you were thinking or not, but being visible from the northern hemisphere of our planet is not the criterion for calling a part of the sky “north” or “south.”
Regarding the brightness rankings, where your link gives Arcturus as No. 3 – the table I used gives Alpha Centauri’s magnitude as -0.27, putting it ahead of Acturus. This is actually the combined magnitude of a binary star system, along with Proxima Centauri, and by itself, [symbol]a[/symbol] Cen is indeed mag. -0.01.
hammerbach, I’m guessing that it’s either Rigel, Betelgeuse, and Aldebaran, or perhaps Capella, Rigel, and Betelgeuse. These are some of the brightest stars in the sky, located E/ESE in the early evenings now. Follow the interactive sky chart link I gave to jackelope earlier and plug in your own location and time (sorry, but I can’t get a new link to work this time) and see if that’s what you saw. I doublt that they’re satellites, because they also move (though sometimes rather slowly), unless they’re in geosynchronous orbit – in which case (I’m guessing) they’d be too high to be visible. Assuming that these are not terrestrial objects (e.g., reeeeeally tall and skinny radio towers), I can’t explain the green twinkling, though.
That is in fact what has puzzled me. At 20-some thousand miles, they would have to be flippin’ HUGE to be as bright as they are, but they don’t move perceptibly (to my eyes, anyway). They would also have to be very high for sunlight to reflect from them 2 hours after sunset, though. They are also not all at the same declination (side note: do objects have to be at or nearly at the celestial equator to be geosynchronous?). They also move against the background of the starts, so they’re not stars…
Parallax give the lie to the idea of terrestrial objects. I observed these things during a 10 mile trip on the highway. They are DEFINITELY in the sky.
I can’t see them now due to weather conditions, and most nights I work, but I guess I’ll have to find a way to sight them and record them.
Perhaps there is someone in my area (southern Maine, Bibliophage, where are you?) who can confirm what I have seen?
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