Have you ever noticed how.....

[yusufcam (Colin)]

its odd but often the best things i've seen aren't planned, like the night i stretched my neck and looked straight up as a brilliant irdium flare went off above.

have you ever noticed how bright stars like sirius when they get down towards the horizon (at least in surburbia), and start twinkling, radiate rapidly the most brilliant metallic like colours, like watching a distant fireworks display.

saw the colours out of the corner of my eye the other night then checked with some 7x50s.

not sure what the science was, or if the pixies were doing it, but it's quite a quiet little show.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Lots of pixies...no science

Seriously, though, just a matter of scintillation caused by atmospheric currents/movement. Colours due to the way light being scattered by the atmosphere and what's in it

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by yusufcam

have you ever noticed how bright stars like sirius when they get down towards the horizon (at least in surburbia),

Touchy topic with me at the moment after my recent altercation with Venus being low in the horizon when I was looking at it. After taking a week to recover, I now conclude that it'll have to be 60 deg. up before I ever look at "it" again. I think my eyes are just over sensitive to very bright light (others seem to manage it just fine).

[lacad01 (Adam)]

Originally Posted by yusufcam

have you ever noticed how bright stars like sirius when they get down towards the horizon (at least in surburbia), and start twinkling, radiate rapidly the most brilliant metallic like colours, like watching a distant fireworks display.

Yep, saw this effect clearly last year at a dark site, I think it was Canopus.

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

its odd but often the best things i've seen aren't planned, like the night i stretched my neck and looked straight up as a brilliant irdium flare went off above.

I had a simmilar experience last night!!

To be honest i thought i was seeing things... Went outside for a sec (i.e cigarette...) and looked up just in time to see a VERY bright white flash through the thin clouds to the south-west, about 30 degrees from the horizon...

Happened so fast i didnt really give it much thought...as i said, i thought i was seeing things - i hadnt seen a flare before, so i probably didnt reallise what i was seeing... (I suppose the 'cloudy night bourbons' i'd consumed earlier didnt help my state of mental alertness much either.....lol)...

The funny thing is, ive tried to view flares before on a few occasions, got the charts out, checked the times, sat outside waiting....nothing...but a simple well-timed ciggie break led to me spotting one (well, i THINK it was one...) by chance... Life sure is funny sometimes....lol

Davin

[yusufcam (Colin)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

Seriously, though, just a matter of scintillation caused by atmospheric currents/movement. Colours due to the way light being scattered by the atmosphere and what's in it

Yes but i'm still convinced it was the pixies that made me look in the first place.

[bojan]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Touchy topic with me at the moment after my recent altercation with Venus being low in the horizon when I was looking at it. After taking a week to recover, I now conclude that it'll have to be 60 deg. up before I ever look at "it" again. I think my eyes are just over sensitive to very bright light (others seem to manage it just fine).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That must have been something else... Venus (being low or high) can't possibly harm anyone's eyes.. even yours