Weird star I keep spotting

[robrob]

Unfortunately I’ll only be able to explain this in laymans terms but I was wondering if anyone could shed any light as it were on a star I keep seeing in the sky. Said star seems different from any others in the fact that it seems to faintly shimmer through different colours, from red to blue to green, as if constantly flashing. It is fairly big, bright and low in the sky. It just stands out to me as no other star seems to be multi-coloured in this (albeit slight) way. Sadly my telescope doesn’t work anymore so I haven’t been able to have a closer look.<br /><br />I’d like to think it is some sort of alien watch post but I imagine it is actually a star – though equally I’d love to be able to know which star and see some closer pics.<br />

 

[CalliArcale]

That's a very good description of the phenomenon of "twinkling". Stars which are very bright and which are subject to a lot of atmospheric disturbance (mainly those near the horizon, although depending on weather conditions it can affect stars relatively high in the sky) will appear to twinkle. This doesn't just mean brightening and dimming; oftentimes they stay the same brightness but change colors. What's happening is that disturbances in the air, mainly due to rising heat, are acting as an everchanging prism, splitting the light in random ways. Thus, you get to see the dazzling display as different parts of the resulting rainbow fall on your eye. It's a very beautiful effect.<br /><br />Sirius is the star most known for doing this; it's the brightest star in the northern sky. But other stars can do it to, and occasionally planets can as well, although since they cover more sky, they aren't as prone to it as actual stars. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

well Rob, can you tell us:<br /><br />Where you are?<br />What time of night is it?<br />What direction? (If you don't know where the north star is, remember the sun sets towards the west and rises toward the east) Do you recognize any constellations?<br />Anything you can do to help pin down the direction would be good.<br />You've said it's pretty low, and as Calli said, it's likely a twinkling star.<br />The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is visible now, and would be the best choice, but if you can help with any of the requested information, we can pin it down.<br />Sirius is just below (in the northjern hemisphere) Orion in the evening, one of the most recognizable constellations.<br /><br />Here's a late evening image of that part of the sky. There are a number of bright stars, but Sirius is the brightest and the lowest. Image created my SkyMap Pro. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[robrob]

It's a bit difficult as where I live (London) it is rare to see more than 3 or 4 stars at this time of year on a given night.<br /><br />Star in question is just below and to the left of Orion's belt as I remember. Low in the sky until about 23:30pm when it started to move a fair bit higher

 

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Here is a picture which may help you identify your star:<br />http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030207.html<br /><br />This also may help:<br />http://www.crystalinks.com/orion.html<br /><br />I believe your star is Saif or Saiph (Kappa Orionis)<br />http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/Saiph.html<br />"A blue supergiant that is the sixth brightest star in the constellation Orion, lying to the lower left in the Hunter’s main seven-star figure. Its name comes from a longer Arabic phrase for “sword of the giant,” though it lies outside the region known today as Orion's Sword. Though at about the same distance as Rigel, Saiph looks fainter because its much higher temperature causes it to radiate much of its light in the ultraviolet. Confusingly, its luminosity and temperature place it close to the region of hydrogen-fusion stability, as if it were just in the process of developing into a supergiant. Although it has a slightly variable spectrum, it makes a good background source of light with which we to study the interstellar medium." <br /><br />From:<br />http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/saiph.html<br />SAIPH (Kappa Orionis). Orion's magnificence stems from the striking figure that appears like the outline of a person looking back at you. But he -- she to the Arabs -- would be little without the brilliance of his stars. Topping the list in beauty are Rigel and Betelgeuse and the three stars of the belt. They so dazzle that we pay less heed to Orion's other bright stars, Bellatrix (which ranks number 3) and Saiph (number 6, and brighter than Mintaka at the right-hand end of the Belt). As bright as it is, mid-second magnitude (2.06), Saiph scored only Bayer's Kappa designati

 

[CalliArcale]

Probably Sirius, then. Sirius is the brightest star in Canis Major, which is just down and to the left of Orion most times of the year (to northern viewers, anyway). Sirius is sometimes called the Dog Star; Canis Major, the "Big Dog", is supposedly Orion's hunting dog. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

OK, that helps.<br />Below and to the left of the belt is Procyon, the 8th brightest star in the sky. (6th brightest visible from Lomdon) It's about the same brightness as the two corner stars in Orion, Betelgeuse and Rigel. It would twinkle more, since being lower it passes through more air.<br />Perhaps it is Betelgeuse itself? Since it is a red star to begin with it can appear more colorful since in between twinkles, it is reddish.<br /><br />At that time, the belt is almost straght up and down, Betelgeuse is to the left and Rigel to the right.<br /><br />Below Orion, Procyon is to the left, and a little lower and to the right of the Belt is Sirius, which is the brightest in the entire sky.<br /><br />This direction has the largest collection of bright stars anywhere in the sky.<br /><br />This image is of your eastern sky at 23:00<br /><br />Someone else suggeste Saiph, but that's to the right of the belt and is dimmer than all 4 stars I mentioned, so seems unliklely to me. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[pizzaguy]

Weird star? I wish the aliens would use their cloaking devices when in 'eyeshot' of earth! It sure causes a lot of confusion when they don't. <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1"><em>Note to Dr. Henry:  The testosterone shots are working!</em></font> </div>

 

[rfoshaug]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Unfortunately I’ll only be able to explain this in laymans terms but I was wondering if anyone could shed any light as it were on a star I keep seeing in the sky. Said star seems different from any others in the fact that it seems to faintly shimmer through different colours, from red to blue to green, as if constantly flashing. It is fairly big, bright and low in the sky. It just stands out to me as no other star seems to be multi-coloured in this (albeit slight) way. Sadly my telescope doesn’t work anymore so I haven’t been able to have a closer look. <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Sounds very much like Arcturus to me. At this time of year, it is low over the western horizon in the afternoon/evening (would say after sunset, but where I live, the sun won't be seen again until February).<br /><br />For some reason (don't know why), Arcturus always seems to twinkle through a lot more different colors than most other stars.<br /><br />If you can find Deneb in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) and Vega in Lyra, then you're in the right part of the sky. A bit further west and down, and you might see Arcturus. It's marked in most star maps.<br /><br />Also, Aldebaran often seems to twinkle thrugh a bit of color, but that star is characteristically reddish/orange in color. It's quite close to the Pleiades ("Seven sisters"), so it should be easy to identify it if that's the star you have seen.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>

 

[search]

Yes I agree with Meteorwayne and Calli. I have to change the choice. Sirius seems to be the correct choice. <br /><br />Since you are in London there is not many more stars you may able to see. Saiph is in fact below but slightly to the right and Sirius will be on a similar location you described and it is a big one. The reason I chose Saiph is because of the colour changes you stated.<br /><br />The best time to see Sirius is at around 02:42AM (but visible starting at around 22:06PM and sets at 0720AM).<br /><br />Link<br /><br />Happy sightings

 

[MeteorWayne]

Still Procyon is in the running. It depends on how far down toward the horizon he can see. Maybe Sirius hasn't even gotten up far enough. If that's the case, when it starts to come up, it will be even more impressive! It's about 10 degrees lower, so may not have cleared the buildings or urban haze yet. Since it's two magnitudes brighter, there should be no doubt once one gets oriented.<br /><br />Hopefully, the images we've given will help him sort it out <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

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Procyon could be but probably to far left and Sirius is a serious candidate for London night sky. Saiph has the colour effects but probably to faint to be seen in a bright city like London. Calli phenomena descrition can explain Sirius producing those prisma like effects specially at the time he said 23:30 when the star is quite low. Maybe tonight he can spot it again because should be a clear night but after tomorrow overcast comes to stay until saturday night with scattered skyes.<br />London weather:<br />http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/03772.html

 

[vandivx]

I used to run program Redshift I think it was called, it amazed me always when I input in my coordinates it showed me sky including the Moon ( I could always locate that one LOL) and then I went out on street and I found Moon just in the direction and elevation it said it would be, that was always amazing to me, like I knew where the Moon would rise before it did or where it was behind clouds, gave me a sense of power <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />I bet you could locate your star that way with the help of some such program<br /><br />vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

That's what the images I posted were. Snapshots from his location of the eastern sky, the 2nd one at 11PM. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[vandivx]

Thumbs up <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vandivx]

"Starry Night Pro5..." like your pic of stars better from orientation point of view, those lines marking constelations always seemed to make it more difficult for me to find what I was looking for (I am sure RedShift can hide them) <br /><br />best is to employ some filter to hide most of confusing background that doesn't belong to major constelations and look at sky someplace where only major stars stick out... but I was never big on knowing my stars, though I could always find big and small dipper and Orion belt on first glance up<br /><br />vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

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Starry Night Pro...

 

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Actually the picture shown is from Hubble but the orientation to find I used S N Pro...