any idea what we saw..??
Discussion
We are just out side Cardiff SW.
Looking in a South Easterly direction.
Eleven o'clock last night.
Saw a very bright star, which caught my attention,but, when I really had a look it seemed to be a cluster of lights which made the shape of a rectangle on its narrow end (portrait, as it were}
You could also see that there was a definate,yellow, and blue colour coming off it as well as the bright white.
My wife agreed, and we spent the next 20 minutes tying to get a better view using my rifle scope, this proved useless.
Gin clear night,it did not move, was star high,not a plane, or such.just a stationary multi coloured cluster of twinkly lights that looked like a rectangle.
Any ideas...
We were not drunk..haha
Looking in a South Easterly direction.
Eleven o'clock last night.
Saw a very bright star, which caught my attention,but, when I really had a look it seemed to be a cluster of lights which made the shape of a rectangle on its narrow end (portrait, as it were}
You could also see that there was a definate,yellow, and blue colour coming off it as well as the bright white.
My wife agreed, and we spent the next 20 minutes tying to get a better view using my rifle scope, this proved useless.
Gin clear night,it did not move, was star high,not a plane, or such.just a stationary multi coloured cluster of twinkly lights that looked like a rectangle.
Any ideas...
We were not drunk..haha
Eric Mc said:
Sirius is very bright and low in the South East. It can twinkle quite fiercely if the atmosphere is disturbed.
At the time I got Google sky maps on the go (I realise this would be quite a rough guide) and it pointed me towards Sirius.It looked like it was twinkling blue and yellow.
Thank you very much for the replies,I have used your suggestions and googled Sirius, and I am sure this is what we saw.
There were very few other stars visable, and we were fighting street light pollution, so to speak.
One description on google, pretty much nails what we saw.
I have always liked star gazing, but I am afraid most of it goes over my head,but last night, even my other half, who has not one jot, of interest, spent nearly half hour last night, observing.
And,I have to admit, we were both intrigued.
A map or book, might be on the cards to purchase this weekend.
Thank you all, very much.
There were very few other stars visable, and we were fighting street light pollution, so to speak.
One description on google, pretty much nails what we saw.
I have always liked star gazing, but I am afraid most of it goes over my head,but last night, even my other half, who has not one jot, of interest, spent nearly half hour last night, observing.
And,I have to admit, we were both intrigued.
A map or book, might be on the cards to purchase this weekend.
Thank you all, very much.
zoom star said:
I have always liked star gazing, but I am afraid most of it goes over my head
I should hope so too 
If the stars weren't over your head we would all be in trouble.Joking aside, you never know, this could be the start of a new hobby for you.
I highly recommend Stellarium. It is interactive and you can zoom in on planets, moons etc. It's also good for satellite spotting.
Possibly the Pleiades or M45. was it quite high in the sky
Look at the image below, did you see a line of 3 stars (red circle), you may have to visually orientate yourself to your location
I think they would appear more in a vertical line than horizontal as shown here.
Sirius would be to the left and down of the red circle.
The green circle is the M42/M43 also known as the Great Orion Nebula. The Pleiades are off to the right in the yellow circle along with Venus
in this image.
Look at the image below, did you see a line of 3 stars (red circle), you may have to visually orientate yourself to your location
I think they would appear more in a vertical line than horizontal as shown here.
Sirius would be to the left and down of the red circle.
The green circle is the M42/M43 also known as the Great Orion Nebula. The Pleiades are off to the right in the yellow circle along with Venus
in this image.
Some Gump said:
Only on PH!
So, the OP was just chilling out with his missus and his rifle, and noone bats an eyelid? I enjoy a bit of romance just as much as the next Pher, but rarely do so whilst heavily armed
HA, binoculars were out the shed,too cold,spotting scope,hand held, impossible,So, the OP was just chilling out with his missus and his rifle, and noone bats an eyelid? I enjoy a bit of romance just as much as the next Pher, but rarely do so whilst heavily armed
Rifle scope by the side of the bed, perfect.
As to the stars going over my head, I saw what I wrote as soon as I re read,what's the chance eh..
Here's a picture of the sky which actually includes both the constellation Orion and Sirius off to its bottom left. If the OP was looking at Sirius, he might have seen Orion too -
Sirius is the brightest star visible in the northern hemisphere. It was also a fairly close star, being only 10 light years away.
Sirius is the brightest star visible in the northern hemisphere. It was also a fairly close star, being only 10 light years away.
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