[AZ-Observing] Re: question from a friend about an observation between Orion and Monoceros
- From: "Spencer, Darrell" <DSpencer@xxxxxxx>
- To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 15:55:56 -0700
I like this explanation and it brings to mind an event a number of us
witnessed a few years ago at Sentinel at the Schwaar Star Gaze (2007 I
believe).
A "new" Orion nebula, fan-shaped, appeared and astounded all of us as
pretty much every piece of glass on the field was trained on it. It was
quickly identified as a fuel dump from a booster for a geosynchronous
satellite insertion. Pretty neat to watch it sit there as the sky
wheeled by.
And while it doesn't quite match up with Wes' friend's observation, Jeff
might be onto something...
Darrell Spencer
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jeff
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 3:26 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: question from a friend about an observation
between Orion and Monoceros
Last year I was on a Houseboat trip on Lake Powell the middle of
October. At 8 PM it was very dark and clear and I went atop the
houseboat with my binoculars. I was surprised to see a very bright
light flashing similarly nearly overhead.
This was not a plane or satellite. It moved very slowly and flashed
about once a minute for over 15 minutes. The flash was long (probably
nearly a second building up and then down).
What I believe this was was a rocket body tumbling and reflecting
sunlight. If not, it was a new type of flashing star.
Jeff
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
Counting Photons
Phoenix, Arizona USA
www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
International Epsilon Aurigae Campaign
http://www.hposoft.com/Campaign09.html
On Nov 3, 2010, at 3:10 PM, Wes Edens wrote:
> A co-worker was out the other night in her yard in Cave Creek, and
> saw a
> bright flash of light in the region of what she first described as
> Orion,
> although when we looked at a star chart, she said it was more like
> Monoceros. She described it a flash at least as bright as nearby
> stars. It
> would flash, then repeat about 10 seconds later. She watched it for
> some
> time, and although it was moving, it was moving very slowly. She
> went in
> and got her husband up to see it. She told me it moved about 1 1/2
> degrees
> in half an hour (described as a finger width and a half at arms
> length).
> I checked Heavens Above for her, using her lat and long (33.78656,
> -111.9453003) and the correct Arizona time setting (it was 01:00 MT,
> 08:00
> UT Tuesday, Nov 2) and nothing showed up during that time (checked
> for sats,
> ISS, HST, everything they offer).
> Any ideas? She's pretty certain it wasn't a plane, but a plane
> flying a
> weird pattern at a distance with its headlight is about all I can
> think of.
> She says that it moved in a linear fashion.
> Googling around, there are a lot of reports of this type of thing in
> Orion,
> but maybe that's just because Orion is a very recognizable
> constellation.
> http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=flashing+light+orion
> She asked me to put this out to the local astronomy community.
> Thanks!
> Wes
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