wow! what is that in the sky? (read quick)

[fatal291]

hello i am just starting into the star gazing stuff and i just happened to look up tonight and i see this huge diamond in the sky. What i am seeing is a ball of light changing as if it was light on a diamond cause it to sparkle.. what is this? at first i thought it was an airplane! its so bright its out shining the radio tower that is just below it! i thought it was something man made but it appears to be a star. it is following the 3 stars that makes up the dipper (not sure if its the little or big dipper but whichever is the clearest) just follow the 3 stars that make that line and you'll see what im talking about. i see alot of other stars but they are no where near as bright as this one is! i can see the colors from here. well anyways here is some more detailed info.. Coordinates Latitude: 37° 32' North <br />Longitude: 77° 28' West thats the location of richmond, va where i am. im not sure what direction but i think its south west.. like i said the stars from the dipper meets it below. its 4am here so if someone can reply it would be nice (closer pics of it would be cool also!) thanks!

 

[enigma10]

Nothing but clouds for me. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"<font color="#333399">An organism at war with itself is a doomed organism." - Carl Sagan</font></em> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

Arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica.<br /><br />So.....<br /><br />Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to Arcturus and continue to the South West to hit Spica. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well at 4AM, it's not the big dipper, which wouldn'r be in the south anyway.<br /><br />Sounds to be like you are seeing Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.<br />Above and to it's right, what you are calling the dipper is the constellation Orion. Far above and to the left a little is Mars, which is also quite bright and reddish, and doesn't twinkle like the stars do.<br /><br />At 4 AM in Richmond, Sirius is only 20 degrees above the horizon, so would be twinkling like mad!!<br /><br />When I'm meteor observing, there's no doubt when it comes over top of the trees, all the colors and flashing are quite distracting for a while!!<br /><br />When they turn on images again, I'll point you to one of this part of the sky, since I've answered this question before <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Meteor Wayne <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>

 

[fatal291]

wow that was amazing i saw A dipper but anyway it was about as bright as the light on my smoke dector.. if i was standing right under it!