SouthEast Sky blinky light right now?

[Jbart74]

I haven't put on the aluminum hat yet, but I have been watching what appears to be a red, white, and blue blinking 'something' in the far off distance for about 20 minutes. It doesn't appear to be moving and is about the size of an average star. I am viewing this from home in Western Mass. Anybody else see it? I wonder if it's a planet or something. Not a huge astronomy guy, but was just curious.

jb

 

[Rose Pink]

Did you find out what it was yet?

 

[BeckyG]

Same thing in San Jose on Sunday night...

I haven't put on the aluminum hat yet, but I have been watching what appears to be a red, white, and blue blinking 'something' in the far off distance for about 20 minutes. It doesn't appear to be moving and is about the size of an average star. I am viewing this from home in Western Mass. Anybody else see it? I wonder if it's a planet or something. Not a huge astronomy guy, but was just curious.

jb

I saw the same thing last night from San Jose, California (Sunday night 8/24 at 9:15 PM)! We thought it must be an airplane, since it was flashing so much, but after 10 minutes, it was clear it wasn't moving.

After some searching on the internet, we figured out that it was Antares, a star that is a red giant. We downloaded a free star program (Stellarium), where you type in your location, the date and time, and it gives you a picture of the sky. From that it was an exact match with Antares.

Funny that the effect was similar on the other side of the country. I don't recall seeing a star flash as much as this one.

 

[BeckyG]

Just reread your post, maybe we didn't see the same thing. What a coincidence since the star I saw looked like it was flashing red and blue.

I saw the star in the south-southwest sky, not the southeast as in your post. I also typed your location into the Stellarium program and it looks like you wouldnt have been able to see Antares at that time of night.

 

[Jbart74]

Just reread your post, maybe we didn't see the same thing. What a coincidence since the star I saw looked like it was flashing red and blue.

I saw the star in the south-southwest sky, not the southeast as in your post. I also typed your location into the Stellarium program and it looks like you wouldnt have been able to see Antares at that time of night.

Darn! Thought I had an answer! Oh well, best get out the aluminum hat if I see it again!

Thanks!

JB

 

[Patri]

When they come for you, just throw water on them.

 

[swift]

When they come for you, just throw water on them.

:hysterical: :rofl:

 

[TUGBrian]

id always been told that stars blink and change color due to the atmosphere distorting the light as it passes from the star to our eyes etc.

but im no astrologist/astronomist =)

 

[Rose Pink]

... Oh well, best get out the aluminum hat if I see it again!


JB

I've posted this link before but it seems appropriate to post it again:

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

OTOH, this report
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/ seems to indicate that aluminum foil helmets may, in fact, be a government conspiracy and do the opposite of what they are intended to do. "The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, These bands are supposedly reserved for ''radio location'' (ie, GPS), and other communications with satellites (see, for example, [3]). The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations."