Strange Observation

[Chrissyo]

Hi everyone.

A friend of mine saw something unusual in the night sky a few years ago (sorry I can't give a proper date or even indication of when it happened - I can't remember!). I've never really put much importance on it, but its been in the back of my mind for a while and I've been trying to suss out what it was... but so far I don't really have any idea. So I thought I may as well post it here and see if anyone else has any ideas.

Anyway, my friend was in his yard one night not doing a whole lot and was watching the stars for a while. Anyway, at one point he said that one of the stars begun to expand and grew quite large then just disappeared. Next time he saw me he asked if I knew what it was, so I went through a list of stuff: meteor, point-meteor, supernova etc. So I asked for a better description and it was something like this:

"I was watching the stars (it was a clear night) and one of them started to quickly expand. It was there before it started to expand as it looked just like a normal star and was fairly bright-ish. It expanded to about the size of the moon (I believe thats about the size he described) then just disappeared."

I can't for the life of me think of what it could be! I think it happened about midnight or something? Another thing to consider - he lives pretty much RIGHT next to the Sunshine Coast airport... but I doubt it was an aeroplane or helicopter etc... we go down to the beach at nights sometimes when I'm over and plenty of planes/helicopters have gone over and they're pretty distinct (even from a distance).

So anyone got any ideas? Its possible I've forgotten some parts of the story, or my brain has changed some details (he asked me about it like 2 years ago:P ) so take it all with a grain of salt I guess. At the very moment I'm keen to think that Jupiter might have been up (or Venus for that matter, but I think he said it was fairly high in the sky) and he just failed to notice it or something just to be hit by it when he least expected it? I guess it doesn't really matter all that much, its just been at the back of my mind for a while and I'm out of ideas.

[ballaratdragons]

Hmmmm, sounds a bit strange Chrissyo! It just dissappeared! Dunno, sorry.

BTW: I saw your video in 'You Tube', listed with mine in Astrophotography :thumbsup: Good stuff!!!

[astro_nutt]

I had a similar experience in Novemeber 2004 observing from Kalkallo just 40 kms North of Melbourne..I think it was around midnight when I noticed an orange glow from the corner of my eye..I turned and within seconds it grew bigger and brighter..then gone!!!..no noise or tell-tail stream or trail...I can only assume it might have been a meteor coming straight towards me!!...It gave me the shivers for a while afterwards...but..that's the only thing I can think of!!!
Cheers!

[jjjnettie]

Weather balloon?

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Funny you should pick this time to post this story Chrissyo - have just had my brother down from NT last month staying for a fortnight, and he was telling me of an episode he had out bush one night that sounded almost exactly like you described!

The ONLY difference as far as I can tell is that he wasn't aware of a star in that location prior to the "brightness" but rather his attention was drawn by the rapid growth in size and brightness. Like you, he also mentioned that it grew big, fast - as big as the full moon or more, and then it finally disappeared to nothing almost instantly - all without having moved laterally at all relative to his position.

I suggested to him it may have been a meteor viewed head on, I think that's still my favourite theory, unless it could possibly be a visible flash from a gamma burst - does anyone know how fast or large these things can appear??

Apart from those 2 possibilities I'm fairly out of ideas I must admit!

[WadeH]

Sounds like it could have been an Iridium satellite.

[ballaratdragons]

That's a good point! They do tend to do that :thumbsup:

I was starting to think along the lines of those horrible sparkles that I get in my eyes occasionally. I get about 2 a night. It's a wierd star-like sparkle of an electric impulse in my retina. Looks nice but a bit of a worry.

But the Iridium Flare sounds closer to the mark.

[Chrissyo]

There is the possibility that he didn't actually notice it beforehand, and was noticing another star? (if that makes sense:P ).

Do iridium's sometimes flare without moving in relation to the observer? I thought they just moved like normal satellites but were brighter at the peak of their travel? Anyway, he knows it wasn't a satellite. Since I've been into astronomy every time me and my mates are out in the evenings I always point them out, so they know what they look like:) ).

[astro_nutt]

Ken..just as a precaution..have you had those fireworks in your eyes checked out yet mate...I used to cop them too...not nice!!
I agree..an iridium flare sounds about right..

[astroron]

The possibility it was an Iridium satellite seems to fit.
I was out Supernova hunting one night when a bright "star" was noticed in the SMC, I immediately thought of who I could ring for a confirmation when I noticed it fade , I then looked through the scope and noticed the Satellite moving away from the SMC.
The satellite was not visible with the naked eye.
There are also other satellites besides Iridium's that flair, so just because they are not mentioned in Heavens Above does not mean that there are not any flaring satellites in the sky.
The other possibility of a face on Meteor could also be the case.