# Astronomers: What is this celestial body? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134 "2002-12-27T09:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/21 "2003-01-02T18:52:57Z")
Thanks–I was reading it as “visible from the Northern hemisphere,” not necessarily “south of the celestial equator.” ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/22 "2003-01-02T20:49:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > 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… \*\* They don’t move, but they move against the background of stars? I’m guessing they’re stars, and you’re just not that familiar with the sky. If you don’t recognize the stars that were nearby then how did you determine that they moved against the background stars as you drove ten miles? ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/23 "2003-01-03T06:28:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > \*\*They don’t move, but they move against the background of stars? > > I’m guessing they’re stars, and you’re just not that familiar with the sky. If you don’t recognize the stars that were nearby then how did you determine that they moved against the background stars as you drove ten miles? \*\* No, I have seen them on different nights in different positions, but moved relative to the visible stars. What I meant by “They don’t move peceptibly…” is “They’re not apparently aircraft”. I’m familiar enough with the sky to know that on one night they were in one position relative to the stars, and on another night there were fewer of them and in different positions relative to the stars. Unfortunately, the weather here has not been cooperative for a while. When it is, and I can, I will attempt to get a little better observation of them. I have thought that they might be planets, but I’m not sure where the planets all are right now, and I still seem to see different colors coming from the same body (this is subtle enough and my vision is poor enough that I will admit the possibilty that it is imagined). I will try to be a bit more systematic, but I have only my eyes and a compass. Maybe I can fab up a quadrant… ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/24 "2003-01-03T07:23:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > **I’m familiar enough with the sky to know that on one night they were in one position relative to the stars, and on another night there were fewer of them and in different positions relative to the stars.** Which stars? Just knowing which stars will (and your approx. location–Maine, right?–might be enough to identify them. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/25 "2003-01-03T14:00:28Z")
Snow again tonight, dangit. Maybe Saturday or Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/26 "2003-01-03T14:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > \*\*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. \*\* How many objects have you seen at one time? Are they all in the same part of the sky? How long is “a very long time” - minutes or hours? My guess is that you are looking at airplanes flying directly towards or away from you. Do you live below an airline route? ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/27 "2003-01-03T14:52:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > \*\*Snow again tonight, dangit. Maybe Saturday or Sunday. \*\* a true scientist 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/28 "2003-01-03T16:09:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > Thanks–I was reading it as “visible from the Northern hemisphere,” not necessarily \*\*“south of the celestial equator.” \*\* erm – NORTH of the celestial equator that is… ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/29 "2003-01-03T18:45:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*How many objects have you seen at one time? Are they all in the same part of the sky? How long is “a very long time” - minutes or hours? > > My guess is that you are looking at airplanes flying directly towards or away from you. Do you live below an airline route? \*\* I have seen as many as three at one time. If they haven’t moved in 40 minutes, I assume they’re not airplanes.If they are flying away from me at a moderate speed (say, 400 MPH), they would travel close to 270 miles in that time. I think it’s safe to say that the light might dim a bit even if it did not disappear beyond the horizon. Oh, and if it didnt go below the horizon, it would then be in space. To be fair, I have to say that I haven’t seen them longer than that. And I do live near a major transatlantic air route, and a Naval Air Station at Brunswick, and I am accustomed to seeing departing/arriving aircraft of many kinds. I’m not claiming that they’re flying saucers, I don’t say that they’re nemesis planets on route to destry civilization, or that they give me telepathic messages. But they’re NOT aircraft. Maybe someone can tell me about planetary positions at present. These things are in the eastern sky awhile after sunset, that eliminates Mercury and Venus. Last time I saw three, and I’m not sure they were all in the zodiac, but IANAA. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by RM Mentock \*\*\* A true scientist_\* Not much else I can do… unless you’d like to charter me an aircraft?🙂 I’ll look again as soon as [weather](http://www.weather.com/newscenter/fcstsummary.html) permits. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/30 "2003-01-03T19:31:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > **Maybe someone can tell me about planetary positions at present. These things are in the eastern sky awhile after sunset, that eliminates Mercury and Venus. Last time I saw three, and I’m not sure they were all in the zodiac, but IANAA.** For the most part, you have the bright “winter” stars, Jupiter doesn’t rise up until after ten or so, though Saturn is visible (greater than mag. 0). There’s Aldebaran (mag. 1), Betelgeuse (\> mag. 1), Procyon (almost mag. 0), Rigel (almost mag. 0), Capella (mag. 0), and Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, a whole mag. brighter than Saturn. When Jupiter does rise, it’s a whole mag. brighter than Sirius even. Lots of impressive points of light in the early evening eastern sky right now–five of the [top ten stars](http://www.maa.mhn.de/StarDate/bright_stars.html), plus Saturn. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/31 "2003-01-04T02:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > **Not much else I can do…** I have two screen-captures from my planetarium program that you can look at: [12/27/02](http://users2.ev1.net/~fpan/021227.gif) [01/03/03](http://users2.ev1.net/~fpan/030103.gif) The time is set to 06:30 p.m., and the location is Bangor, ME, which I assume should be close enough. The brightest stars are labeled in yellow, along with Saturn, which is at mag. -0.9. Jupiter rises around 6:50 p.m. (tonight)\*, at mag. -2.5. There are no other planets anywhere near this time/location – the next one to rise is Mars, at 3:15 a.m. – so, well, you can’t be seeing **3** planets. But…if still wanna be a scientist even while snowed in, you can take after [this](http://snowflakebentley.com/) Vermont farmer. 😉 - I just ran the program again (but am too lazy to do another screencap). At the time that Jupiter rises, Sirius is also just barely above the horizon, and actually Jupiter, Sirius, and Procyon will make a very symmetrical, though squat, isosceles triangle. Jupiter rise at about 24° N of E, and Sirius will be about 26° S of E, and Procyon is 1° S of E, and 8° above the horizon. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/32 "2003-01-04T06:10:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earthling \* > [BAt the time that Jupiter rises, Sirius is also just barely above the horizon, and actually Jupiter, Sirius, and Procyon will make a very symmetrical, though squat, isosceles triangle. Jupiter rise at about 24° N of E, and Sirius will be about 26° S of E, and Procyon is 1° S of E, and 8° above the horizon. \*\* We may have a winner… that does sound about like what I saw the other night. As I said before, when weather permits, I will attempt to make some kind of recording to confirm it. Thank you very much for your answer! ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134/33 "2003-01-04T14:41:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > **Jupiter doesn’t rise up until after ten or so** D’oh. Around here, Jupiter rises at 7:45pm, nearly an hour later than in Bangor. Sorry about that misread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronomers-what-is-this-celestial-body/145134.md?page=1)