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What is that twinkly thing in the sky?

(66 Posts)
Eglantine21 Thu 26-Mar-20 20:27:50

Look out of your window towards Orion. Just about where Sirius should be is a twinkly thing, really bright, shining in rainbow colours.

It was there last night as well, even brighter and more rainbow-like.

What is it?

I’m afraid it’s aliens???

arosebyanyothername Sat 28-Mar-20 23:34:30

If you have a smartphone there's an APP called Night Sky that is quite useful for discovering what you're looking at whilst star gazing

EllanVannin Sat 28-Mar-20 22:41:26

The Plough is also visible---that looks like a frying pan.

Shizam Sat 28-Mar-20 22:28:05

Can see so many more stars at night this week. Lower pollution levels in cities. This virus is going to make us live a different way, I reckon.

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 21:32:19

Aldaberan?

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 21:07:28

Not sure, then

Perhaps you have been chosen for a close encounter of the third kind!!

Eglantine21 Sat 28-Mar-20 20:54:09

Nope, I know them.

“The weeping Pleiades wester..”

I love that poem

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 20:48:23

I asked DH and he said is it the Pleiades (sp?) or Seven Sisters, at the moment to the left of the moon, forming a triangle with the moon and Venus?

They are a cluster, not one star

Eglantine21 Sat 28-Mar-20 20:44:36

It would have arrived by now - wouldn’t it..........

Eglantine21 Sat 28-Mar-20 20:44:07

Well at least it’s not the meteor that I thought might be heading for us.....

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 20:42:48

The clouds have come over now, I hope it's still there when the sky is clear.

Or - I hope it flies away if it is a spaceship!

Eglantine21 Sat 28-Mar-20 20:39:47

It is lovely but it’s not my sparkly thing. Go left, umm south?, from the moon not quite a quarter turn. It’s there.

Not as bright as previous night but sparking different colour like a firework.

Oh please look

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 20:24:29

Yes, if it is near and to the right of the moon, it is Venus.

BlueSapphire Sat 28-Mar-20 20:10:18

It's Venus, looks beautiful tonight just above the crescent moon. It's the evening star. Some times you can see it in the morning when it's the morning star.

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 16:26:50

Does anyone else remember the I Spy books?
I had several, including I Spy in the Night Sky, I used to walk round getting a crick in my neck when I should have just lain on a sunbed in the garden!

tanith Sat 28-Mar-20 16:16:41

Last night I saw Venus with the new moon just below to the left and then at 19.40pm watched the ISS pass to the right of both of them visible for 4 mins in the West it was quite breathtaking.

BoBo53 Sat 28-Mar-20 16:08:18

Maybe it's spaceships from Mars waiting til the virus has wiped us all out before invading in War of the Worlds 2. Only joking - I hope! Stay safe and well everyone.

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 15:51:57

We have one keen amateur astronomer and one astro-physicist in the family and what we looked at was Venus.
Perhaps others are looking at the space station, a comet or an alien spacecraft.

Who knows.

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 15:49:51

Well, Venus does rise from low on the horizon in the west at the moment.

Perhaps we're all looking at something different grin

moggie57 Sat 28-Mar-20 15:42:50

ITS A SATELITTE ..... i looked too .its to low to be venus...

BeenBizzy Sat 28-Mar-20 13:14:06

Could it be the Comet that's heading towards us. It passes this way every 5500 years.
Was reading about it a few days ago. Its going to get brighter in the coming weeks.

Eglantine21 Sat 28-Mar-20 12:50:49

Spent all morning working out the technology to post this?

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 12:33:11

The space station moves across the sky.

Venus is the Evening Star at the moment and is very bright in the early evening and will be visible until about the end of May.
It will then disappear and appear as the Morning Star in June.

NanTheWiser Sat 28-Mar-20 12:03:21

It's Venus - the space station moves across the sky, taking about 4 minutes to traverse overhead. It certainly seems to be much more twinkly than usual! Less pollution is my guess.

Rosina Sat 28-Mar-20 11:34:10

I hate to possibly dispel some illusions, but a neighbour has said this is a space station. Don't know if this is true, but he works in this field; he is an astrophysisist.
I saw the new moon last night - wonderful; a golden crescent. Years ago when I lived in London and was visiting a friend in the country - no light pollution - we stood in her garden and looked up at the stars on a cloudless night. There were so many that it took my breath away - an endless beauty stretching right across the night sky. I had never experienced such a glorious sight.

Callistemon Sat 28-Mar-20 11:12:49

We viewed the night sky through a telescope in the outback, EllanVannin - just awe inspiring