Question for any amateur (or professional for that matter) astronomers in the house – what was the very bright light in the Southern sky last night about 9 o’clock, probably about 20 degrees up from the horizon? I’ve noticed it before and assumed it was the ISS.

I don’t know if the atmosphere was particularly clear last night but it seemed incredibly bright and when I looked at it through my binos and a particularly crappy spotting scope which I have, it appeared to be sparkling all different colours.

Answers on a postcard please!

Unless it was moving pretty quickly it probably wasn’t the ISS – that crosses the sky in about a minute or so.

Last night facing southwards you’d probably see a few of the brighter stars. Sirius was pretty low, but would have been well visible. Further west you’d see Betelgeuse and Bellatrix in Orion and further west still is Jupiter – still the brightest thing in the sky at the moment.

J

Have you got a smartphone? There’s some pretty impressive apps. You point your phone at the sky and it tells you what you are looking at in any direction.

You need to download this free software: http://www.stellarium.org

Saturn is very bright and low in the southern sky at that time.

the really bright one that sparkles different colours is Sirius. Betelgeuse is obviously red but not sparkly. Haven’t seen Jupiter for a while, but then I haven’t been actively looking. Ah, this winter has been so crap for looking at the sky.

Definitely wasn’t any part of Orion – Orion was probably in the South South West to South West at the time; it definitely wasn’t Jupiter because I know where that is, although it was about as bright, if not brighter. This was definitely due South, as the front of my house faces that way and I was looking out of the front bedroom window.

Definitely wasn’t a comet, and no way was it a meteor/ite (not travelling fast enough).

It was moving reasonably quickly (East-West) but not say as quick as aircraft that were visible. If I can get photos tonight I’ll put them up. I’ll try to get a star-trail to give an idea of it’s path.

EDIT – Looking like it may have been Sirius then…

Have you got a smartphone? There’s some pretty impressive apps. You point your phone at the sky and it tells you what you are looking at in any direction.

Duh, why didn’t I think of that 🙄 ??

You need to download this free software: http://www.stellarium.org

Saturn is very bright and low in the southern sky at that time.

Cheers, I’ll give it a try.

SW (well more toward S than Orion) would be Sirius. It’s rather bright.

Saturn is miles away in the East I think.

Google Sky View is pretty good too. Not tried Stellarium.

http://heavens-above.com is handy too for planets, stars and ISS and other satellites.

with stellarium you can rewind it to the exact time you were looking

Definitely Sirius – googled a few star maps and it ties in perfectly. Cheers chaps!!

It was moving reasonably quickly (East-West) but not say as quick as aircraft that were visible

Ah just spotted that. Moving (at a pace that is visibly noticeable) won’t be any kind of star or planet. East-West won’t be ISS (that’d be West-East approx). Gonna be some orbital object or aircraft if it’s moving. heavens-above might help. If it was fixed relative to other stars, then Sirius.

Have you made a tin foil hat yet ?

I use goskywatch planetarium on my iPad, a great app for stargazing….

North Korean spy satellite?

Have you made a tin foil hat yet ?

Will it stop the voices??