How do I investigate an odd sighting?

[Tully]

I was out in the back yard last night and saw a star appear then disappear over about 1.5 seconds. This was a naked eye observation so the rest of the information is pretty vagues, but:

• Brightest apparent magnitude was about the same as Sirius
• Time and position is approximate (allow plus/minus 1 degree) but:
  Aim point RA: 17h 48m 34s Dec: −42°1'8"
  Fri 2009 Aug 14 11:45 UTC
• There was no apparent motion, the object was stationary with respect to the surrounding stars

Any idea what this was or who I might contact to report the sighting?

[astroron (Ron)]

Hi Tully and Welcome to iceinspace
What you probably saw was a face on meteor, instead of streaking across the sky it was coming directly at your line of sight.
Without a lot more detail and other collaborating evidence , such as images and other people seeing it as well, there is little you can do
If you study the night sky over a long period of time (I mean years) you will see many things like this
I hope this helps

[stephenb (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by astroron

Hi Tully and Welcome to iceinspace
What you probably saw was a face on meteor, instead of streaking across the sky it was coming directly at your line of sight.
Without a lot more detail and other collaborating evidence , such as images and other people seeing it as well, there is little you can do
If you study the night sky over a long period of time (I mean years) you will see many things like this
I hope this helps

Welcome Tully,

I agree with Ron, you probably saw a meteor coming head-on towards you.

[hulloleeds]

So next time, duck

[astroron (Ron)]

If Leeds duck any lower they will be in the local league

[hulloleeds]

Originally Posted by astroron

If Leeds duck any lower they will be in the local league

Hah, I only greet Leads, I don't support them

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by hulloleeds

Hah, I only greet Leads, I don't support them

[MrB (Simon)]

Hullo....

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by astroron

If Leeds duck any lower they will be in the local league

Oi! We're going up this year



I hope

[Tully]

I suspected as much, it's just unusual to see them with no apparent motion at all. Nova or supernova also occurred to me, however one would suspect the duration would have been longer if that were the case.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

You are quite right, novae and supernovae happen over a much longer time scale. I've found that a lot of people don't realise this, and have a Hollywood version of star death in their mind when they think of dying stars - as in KABOOM! (star winks out in an instant). While a supernova is a relatively quick event in stellar time, for us humans it still takes a few days at least to fade away, if not weeks.

[seanliddelow (Sean)]

Could it have been an iridium flare? But dont they move?
Could a geostationary satelite cause it?

[citivolus (Ric)]

Yes, geostationary satellites do flare, however it is usually significantly lower in brightness to to distance. To take that further, tumbling geostationary satellites are an interesting thing to spot through a scope.

[Tully]

I doubt it was a flare, it was at 21:45 local time. It is perhaps possible if it was a geostationary satellite, but not low orbit. It would have been in Earth's shadow at that time of night in low orbit.

[Moon (James)]

Sorry for getting off the topic a bit...

To take that further, tumbling geostationary satellites are an interesting thing to spot through a scope.

Out of curiosity, what would that look like?

I'm still hoping someone can explain what I reported here

[seanliddelow (Sean)]

A geostationary mirror?