Astronomer/Hikers: Objects in the Night Sky

[erugs]

When I was backpacking out on the Wonderland Trail (Rainier, WA) a few weeks ago, I stayed in a back country camp (Indian Barr). During the night I awoke and looked up into the sky. I'm not an astronomer and can't find much more than the Big Dipper, so I don't know what part of the sky I was looking at, except that it was "up." (My feet were facing North, my head to the South.) I had a limited view of the sky because of trees. If I hadn't been so sleepy I would have walked out to the meadow. Yawn. I noticed a "star" that was blinking, and thought "Oh, a plane." But it was just one blinking white light. So I thought, "Oh, a satellite." But it wasn't moving and it wasn't blinking in a steady pattern, sort of: Blink, Blink, no blink, Blink.

Any ideas out there as to what I saw?

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Could have just been twinkle, twinkle little star.

Am I to assume that none of the other stars where blinking?

Keith

 

[Tom Rankin]

When I was backpacking out on the Wonderland Trail (Rainier, WA) a few weeks ago, I stayed in a back country camp (Indian Barr). During the night I awoke and looked up into the sky. I'm not an astronomer and can't find much more than the Big Dipper, so I don't know what part of the sky I was looking at, except that it was "up." (My feet were facing North, my head to the South.) I had a limited view of the sky because of trees. If I hadn't been so sleepy I would have walked out to the meadow. Yawn. I noticed a "star" that was blinking, and thought "Oh, a plane." But it was just one blinking white light. So I thought, "Oh, a satellite." But it wasn't moving and it wasn't blinking in a steady pattern, sort of: Blink, Blink, no blink, Blink.

Any ideas out there as to what I saw?

Hmmm, there are geo-synchronous satellites, but they are usually quite dim, well below the threshold of the naked eye, and they do not really blink. So, that seems unlikely.

There are stars that blink, but they do it so fast, you can't see it. Next...

Doesn't sound like a plane if it was not moving, but sometimes planes appear stationary for quite some time... ??

Maybe the LGM were watching you!

 

[DougPaul]

Could have just been twinkle, twinkle little star.

My vote as well.

Doug

 

[Nessmuk]

Any ideas out there as to what I saw?

You would notice definite rapid movement across the sky in any satellite bright enough to catch your attention. If it was low to the horizon, sometimes a directly approaching/receding airplane can seem to be motionless for a long time. You say you were in the trees... was it windy? If so maybe a branch was blowing back and forth across your view causing an erratic blink.

If you are interested in what the sky offers, I'd recommend two web sites:

http://heavens-above.com (registration is free and anonymous)

http://www.skyandtelescope.com (go to the almanac)

 

[erugs]

Thanks to all who have responded so far. My guess is that I was being watched by the LGM, a signal to watch over me as I was alone. The trees were well away from the part of the sky I was looking at because of the opening in my tent area (Site 3, which is claimed to be the best because it is secluded). I thought of blurring, etc., so unzipped the netting on my tent to get a better look. It was fairly faint, and I think I looked long enough to be sure there wasn't movement in the sky. The blinking was irregular, but with a pattern. I was thinking it could be light from somewhere else in the sky shining on one of those "stationary" satellites and that the light was blinking because the satellite was spinning. But what do I know?

There were strange shapes in the trees, too, one very angry looking monster and another monster that looked kind. But I didn't think I should mention those in my first posting about the blinking light.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Thanks to all who have responded so far. My guess is that I was being watched by the LGM, a signal to watch over me as I was alone. The trees were well away from the part of the sky I was looking at because of the opening in my tent area (Site 3, which is claimed to be the best because it is secluded). I thought of blurring, etc., so unzipped the netting on my tent to get a better look. It was fairly faint, and I think I looked long enough to be sure there wasn't movement in the sky. The blinking was irregular, but with a pattern. I was thinking it could be light from somewhere else in the sky shining on one of those "stationary" satellites and that the light was blinking because the satellite was spinning. But what do I know?

There were strange shapes in the trees, too, one very angry looking monster and another monster that looked kind. But I didn't think I should mention those in my first posting about the blinking light.

Being away from most of the light pollution that we are exposed to and letting your eyes get accustomed to the dark it is actually amazing how many stars (and other objects) are in the sky. Is it possible that what you are talking about could have been caused by a geosynchronous sat spinning on its axis? It's not impossible.

My nephew and I were satellite watching one night, a very fun pastime at night in the woods, and we were very fortunate to see an Iridium flash at 13 falls campground several years ago. That was so bright that it actually lit up the area. Truly one of the most amazing things I have seen, ever. It ranks right up there with seeing the aurora. Very, very cool.

Keith

 

[Nessmuk]

My nephew and I were satellite watching one night, a very fun pastime at night in the woods, and we were very fortunate to see an Iridium flash at 13 falls campground several years ago. That was so bright that it actually lit up the area. Truly one of the most amazing things I have seen, ever. It ranks right up there with seeing the aurora. Very, very cool.

I just love be guiding folks into the woods with a schedule of Iridium flashes secreted in my pocket. I'll arrange to be talking about something in the sky when at the appointed time off the cuff I'll point where I expect it to be... "and over here we have a special treat....". Bam

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I just love be guiding folks into the woods with a schedule of Iridium flashes secreted in my pocket. I'll arrange to be talking about something in the sky when at the appointed time off the cuff I'll point where I expect it to be... "and over here we have a special treat....". Bam

I was fortunate enough to be in the small central focal point of the flash that night, not the larger 10km cone area and it was truly spectacular. It was bright enough to read by. I kid you not.

I also used to carry a list of satellites that would tell me where they should be visible and at what times and it is really fun to do what you are talking about. That particular night I didn't have any lists and actually had to look through the records when I got back from the camping trip. I had heard of the Iridium flares but have never seen one. I knew that’s what it had to be. When I got pack home the first thing I did was to verify that is what we saw. I use to do this a lot back when MIR, I know I'm dating myself, use to cruise around, it was always easy to find. At that time, one of the brightest objects in the nighttime sky. The space station, as I remember isn't that easy to find because it doesn't often come up to this latitude. If I remember correctly.

Keith

 

[paul ron]

You were being scanned by aliens. You're thoughts have been altered in such a way that no one will notice but your dog.

 

[Nessmuk]

I was fortunate enough to be in the small central focal point of the flash that night, not the larger 10km cone area and it was truly spectacular. It was bright enough to read by. I kid you not. ...
The space station, as I remember isn't that easy to find because it doesn't often come up to this latitude. If I remember correctly.

Oh yes, when you are in the path of maximum brightness (magnitude ~ -8) it is truly spectacular and casts a light bright enough to read by... for only about 2 seconds. You can see a fairly bright pass by one almost every night or morning at dusk if you know where to look.

I also fondly remember MIR. And yes, the ISS (International Space Station) rarely gets very high for us, though I see it is as high as 54 degrees in elevation on the 13th for me in the Adirondacks. When the Space Shuttle is attached it is even brighter, and I have seen both separated in the sky as the Shuttle was chasing it for a rendezvous.

 

[jjmcgo]

Variable stars

Variable stars emit inconsistent light for various reasons. Some stars are briefly eclipsed by other stars that, from Earth, appear to be near them.
GOOGLE variable stars and optical binary stars and follow the path where it leads you.
The second star from the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, Miraz, is a famous variable star. Almost opposite in the circle of circumpolar stars around Polaris, the North Star, is Algor, the second-brightest star in the Constellation Perseus, near the radiant of the Perseid meteor shower we see every year in August.
Algor is cool to watch.
Read the second paragraph on this site:
http://www.urbanastronomy.com/?see

 

[Artex]

I was fortunate enough to be in the small central focal point of the flash that night, not the larger 10km cone area and it was truly spectacular. It was bright enough to read by. I kid you not.

That happened to me and a group of friends in the Catskills once also. I can only imagine what the cavemen must have thought when it happened to them.

 

[SteveHiker]

That happened to me and a group of friends in the Catskills once also. I can only imagine what the cavemen must have thought when it happened to them.

umm, I think the Geico cavemen are the only ones with a chance for it to happen to them.

 

[forestgnome]

Ellen,

You were probably seeing the effects of our atmosphere. You were probably seeing Jupiter and noticing the unsteadiness of the atmosphere. Like looking at an object through water, if the water is unsteady the object will dance. The atmosphere is often unsteady, creating the same effect.

The brighter the object, the more noticable the effect.

Happy Trails

 

[NewHampshire]

Ellen,

You were probably seeing the effects of our atmosphere. You were probably seeing Jupiter and noticing the unsteadiness of the atmosphere. Like looking at an object through water, if the water is unsteady the object will dance. The atmosphere is often unsteady, creating the same effect.

The brighter the object, the more noticable the effect.

Happy Trails

This is quite true. I remember very early one morning looking at this bright shimmering globe in the sky thinking it was an airplanes navigation light only it was too big for that. I later found out it was Venus (I think).

Brian

 

[DougPaul]

You were probably seeing the effects of our atmosphere. You were probably seeing Jupiter and noticing the unsteadiness of the atmosphere. Like looking at an object through water, if the water is unsteady the object will dance. The atmosphere is often unsteady, creating the same effect.

The brighter the object, the more noticable the effect.

This is often called twinkling, as in "twinkle, twinkle little star".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillation_(astronomy)

Doug

 

[sweeper]

From:

http://www.astronomy.com/ASY/CS/forums/306795/ShowPost.aspx

ddplais

I live in south Louisiana and was outdoors several minutes ago. It's a clear night outside so I was looking at the stars. I noticed two stars blinking a bright red and green. What causes this? Am I seeing something rare or does it happen often and just goes unnoticed? I am a new comer to this site.

meade man

Hi its caused by the atmosphere its very common, the lower the stars in the sky, the more it does it due to a thicker atmosphere, the effect is called scintillation Neil