What Did I See In The Sky Last Night?
Discussion
I went to a MilSim thing in Elvesham forest yesterday and as we were camping for the night the organisers did at night mission.
At around 23:00 4 of us were stood in the pitch black trying to locate the enemy when I saw what I thought was satelite (sp?) moving across the sky, my brother in law swore it was moving far too quickly and was far too bright to be one. I figured that as the sun had only set a couple of hours ago it would still be reflecting the suns light.
Now the only thing that makes me a little unsure is that it was moving from side to side, almost shaking, is that just because of the gases in the upper atmospere or are we being watched?
At around 23:00 4 of us were stood in the pitch black trying to locate the enemy when I saw what I thought was satelite (sp?) moving across the sky, my brother in law swore it was moving far too quickly and was far too bright to be one. I figured that as the sun had only set a couple of hours ago it would still be reflecting the suns light.
Now the only thing that makes me a little unsure is that it was moving from side to side, almost shaking, is that just because of the gases in the upper atmospere or are we being watched?
There was a good visual pass of the International Space Station around that time last night, you can see it again around 21:52 tonight if it isn't cloudy.
http://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=25544
http://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=25544
I was in the depths of Wales on Friday night miles from any light pollution and as it was a clear night I spent a couple of hours on a sun lounger watching the sky. The Persids were the most impressive I've seen in a while including a couple that flared up.
I also saw plenty of what the OP describes and having done plenty of International Space Station spotting I have no doubt that they are satellites, I even saw 2 go over parallel with each other which I've not seen before but looked very cool.
I also saw plenty of what the OP describes and having done plenty of International Space Station spotting I have no doubt that they are satellites, I even saw 2 go over parallel with each other which I've not seen before but looked very cool.
Gokartmozart said:
Was it a single point of light like a star and took around 30 seconds to cross the sky ?, then most likely a satellite.
If bigger than a star then maybe a chinese lantern.
Generally meteor flash or streak across the sky and are short lived 1-2 seconds at most.
Yeah, I'd say we could see it for 30 sec to a minute. It was far too bright and hight to be a lantern but it also seemed really bright for a satellite (I've seen loads) and it almost zigzagging in the air, not over a great distance but noticeably moving from left to right. That and the brightness (satellites normally look like a distant star) made me question what we saw.If bigger than a star then maybe a chinese lantern.
Generally meteor flash or streak across the sky and are short lived 1-2 seconds at most.
Vieste said:
I saw a shooting star at the same time heading south lasted a few seconds.
Must have been a big one. I was setting up my camera in Mt Cook NZ for some astrophotography a few years ago when the biggest meteorite I've ever seen hit the atmosphere. It lasted a good 4 seconds and I could actually hear it.Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff