Last night object in Western Sky

[anthony.tony]

Hello Last night at Canowindra at our Observing site We noticed a formation in the western sky say due west . It looked triangular in shape It hung there in the sky then disolved. Some said it was some small cloud formation but there was something strange about its Shape.It occured between 9pm and 11pm. You could see it naked eye It probably covered 2 to 3 degrees of the sky. Tony

[pgc hunter]

Did it appear to be a solid object? Or diffuse? Was it lights making that shape?

[anthony.tony]

I suppose It was Diffuse but what got us was its symetrical shape.

[pgc hunter]

and it stood in the exact same spot for 2 hours?

[anthony.tony]

No not for 2 hours Probably 9 to 12 minutes.Just I can't remeber the exact time we noticed it.

[astro_south]

Tony

We saw this at Leyburn (QLD) too last night. I got a shot of it as it spread, and will post it here when I get it off the camera. It appeared as two streaks of glow that slowly moved away from each other and dissipated. Interesting to know that it was spotted elsewhere as well.

[AstroJunk]

Four of us from the AAQ watched it from in the region of Peak Crossing. It was spotted at 8:50 almost due west in Cetus. It was a bright (brighter than Halle-bopp) object initially but was gone after 5 mins or so, and before I could grab an image.

This is my sketch of it when it was about half a degree across, using binos.

What ever it was, it made our night!

[Added Later: My eyes are obviously minature Maksutovs, hence the sketch being left-right inverted!]

[anthony.tony]

Yes that is the shape we saw on sat. Night

[anthony.tony]

Your drawing is laying on its side. It should be small side up and big end down . Tony

[AstroJunk]

Not in Qld :)

[astroron]

It sounds like it was a defueling of a spent rocket.

[astro_south]

Here is a crude photo of the object. Apologies for the trailing stars, not quite framing it right, and limited noise reduction, but I was in the middle of sorting out some balance issues with my mount and the piggybacked Canon 50D and 70-200mm f4 lens when the object appeared.

The EXIF data should be with the file, but if not it says the shot was taken at 20:54:45 on the 28th, has an exposure of 57sec at f4 and at 200mm.

From memory I aligned the frame to the horizon though don't quote me on that, and I would estimate the object's direction was fairly close to where the sun went down. The picture seems to match Anthony's description more, so I guess it possibly indicates that the object was located on a latitude between Leyburn and Peaks Crossing.

[h0ughy]

hey guys would it be leftovers stuff from the two satelites colliding the other week?

[jjjnettie]

You did well to capture it Andrew.



And now you understand why every image of a UFO is shakey and unfocused.:lol:

Seriously though....
Did you check Heavens Above for transits of the ISS? Could be they flushed the toilet.:whistle:

[AstroJunk]

That's brilliant. We can get the orientation from the star field.

The most unreliable evidence in court is that of an eye witness, so it is really good to have a shot to get the facts right!

[AstroJunk]

And given the separation of the observers, I would have thought the event occured well outside the Earth's atmosphere which makes that a good candidate.

There was another one of these a while back wasn't there?

[RUSirius]

Here are my 2 photos of the "UFO" from Heathcote, Victoria. Taken around 21:46 or 21:47 28th Feb 2009, about 30 seconds apart I think. Each exposure 16 seconds long. The object appears quite small in these pics, but you can get the idea of how large it was from the starfields.

Let me know what you think and if you want higher resolutions to play with.

[astroron]

Yes you are correct:)I think it has been in the last couple of years:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

looks like you got the beginning of it:thumbsup:

[astro_south]

Well done Emma. Wish I had of got the start of it. Looks very interesting.

[anthony.tony]

I want to put an image of the object in I cant find Manage attatchments

[iceman]

You have to click "Go Advanced" when replying.

[anthony.tony]

When I click Go advanced The Manage Attachments Dose not show up . Tony

[GrahamL]

Awesome :thumbsup:

[anthony.tony]

Hello I have included an Image taken by John Sarkissian on Sat. night. John is a member of our CWAS astronomy Group. He is Operations Scientist of the Parkes Radio Telescope.His image was taken around 21:54 Sat night 28/02/2009.The Camera was a Canon 400d 18x55mm lens set to ISO-1600/ 30 second Exposure.F/L 18mm.He shot 2 images and stacked them , Here is the result.Tony. This was taken on the Eugowra Road west of Canowindra NSW.

[astroron]

Images please:D

[anthony.tony]

Hello John Sarkissian has Worked out what we saw on Saturday night. This is the link to Steve Quirks website that shows an image of a rocket burn Steve imaged in 1990.It has the same shape we saw on Saturday night.

http://www.my.hwy.com.au/~sjquirk/images/film/rocket.html

I just got this information in an email as we were speaking a short while ago. I think this may be it. The rocket firing may have been the boost into geosynchronous orbit.




Raduga-1
--------

A Russian military communications satellite in the Globus series
(cover name Raduga-1) was launched on Feb 28 by a Khrunichev Proton-K
with an Energiya DM-2 upper stage. The previous launch in the series
was a modified Raduga-1M launched with the more modern Proton-M/Briz-M
rocket; the use of the older rocket suggests that this one is indeed just
a Raduga-1 and not a Raduga-1M. The new Raduga-1 was in geosynchronous
orbit in the 90 E region late on Feb 28.




Regards, John.

________________________________

[AstroJunk]

Ron was on the ball there...

Here is the exact location of Andrew's shot. Should be able to make a triangulation from that and Emma's to confirm the rocket in question.

[astroron]

:D:D:D:lol::thumbsup:

[anthony.tony]

Thanks for everyone that contributed to this thread. At least now from reports in Victoria -NSW- Queensland. We Know now what caused this Appearance.

[astroron]

Hi Tony, I guess that with over 5000 members and most from this side of Auss:D someone else would have seen it:):)
I am glad we all could help sort out the mystery:thumbsup:

[TJD]

I New It Was That Well I Didnt But How Did They Find The Web Site :d

[anthony.tony]

Check Spaceweather . Com .There is a story On the Rocket Boost From Heathcoate Victoria Well Done.

[RUSirius]

FYI, my coordinates for around 21:46 on Sat 28th Feb 2009 were: 36.8056°S, 144.6761°E. Hope this helps with triangulation re the rocket in question.

[GrahamL]

Incredible guys ,you can sort out what this was so soon :thumbsup:.. what are we seeing though is that burn in real time or whats left after ?

[Analog6]

How amazing! I wish I'd been out spotting.

[gaa_ian]

Very interesting folks !
I reckon you should send the photos and sketch to spaceweather.com
I am sure they could help to unravel the mystery.

[anthony.tony]

check spaceweather the story is there. Tony

[TJD]

the mystries solved:scared:it a alien(ufo)