Well, the telescope never made it out of storage, but a lucky break in the weather allowed me to do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v855ZeBnSJs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v855ZeBnSJs)
That break in the weather was lucky then :)
Nicely done Dave and thanks for sharing :sign-great-job:
Very cool 8)
Thanks, Gents. :) I got some pics of it, too, but the video turned out so well that I haven't bothered to process them yet.
Very nice Dave, weather here hasn't been so kind :'(
I have been reading these posts. Been a bit busy. Pretty good video, knowing how hard it is to photo/vid dots.
Wish we had clear skies :(
Thanks, Snowy. I was rather glad that the video turned out as well as it did, though I had to edit the soundtrack. I tried to catch Comet Lovejoy the next few nights after, but though we had clear skies, there was just too much ambient light in the area to make it out, and with an injured shoulder, I couldn't pack up the telescope for a road trip. :( Fortunately, I have an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow about it)
Thanks for posting that video!
No problem, 8pla. I love sharing that sort of thing whenever I can. :)
Not too long ago, fairly recently actually... With all the stars clearly visible and bright in the night sky, it was an extremely clear night. There was a news report of a meteor passing earth close enough to be seen by the naked eye in the evening sky.
So, outside I went, waiting for the meteor to pass by. At about the exact time as the news said it would appear, there was an object passing by. I don't even know how to say it... Super higher in the sky than any airplane I have ever seen. Flying in a straight line across the sky at high speed. But there was one problem.
This flying object had what appeared to be a blinking light on it. It can't be a meteor with a blinking light on it, can it? Was it a satellite, some type of spacecraft to monitor the passing meteor? I think I sort of ruled out military aircraft, because it was so high that it looked like it was in space, and traveling unusually fast across the clear night sky. Could it have been the meteor with some type of spinning reflective surface that looked like a blinking light on it? Any ideas?
"reflective" surface? Probably not. But maybe a "light spot", like a patch of ice? Maybe. Bear in mind that while you were in the Earth's shadow (it was night, after all), that asteroid wasn't, so a variation of albedo, combined with spin, may have caused what you saw.
The only blinking lights I've ever seen are from aircraft. Some satellites do brighten and dim considerably as they rotate and their solar panels reflect the sunlight, with a period of 3-5 secs or more. The only other really bright light is the ISS but I've never seen it blink. I am assuming blink to mean 1 sec or less.
All meteors are fairly dim and normally require a telescope, or at least binoculars, to see. Unless they're burning up in the atmosphere. Comets can be much brighter. The apparent motion of both these objects would be slow to the naked eye.
Slower than a second. At least three seconds or so, in a slow intermittent blink. The object appeared, at a minimum, to be at the edge of space and traveling fast. A clear night, plenty of time to view. I remember my neck feeling strained, looking straight up into the night sky.
The news said it would be visible. That is what got me out there. And it happened right on time, just like in the news. All just speculation, but could it have been some top secret spacecraft, making sure the object wasn't heading for Earth? Or perhaps the object was being traced by electromagnetic radiation with some sort of top secret military laser beam?
I only wish I would thought to capture it on a video like this spectacular Venus Mercury Conjunction footage. The narrator delivered useful information about the footage. I consider this Venus Mercury Conjunction report to be newsworthy for television.
That sure does sound strange 8pla.net, how could a meteor have a blinking light, it's a mystery but we like them :)