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Any amateur astronomers out there?


rocket-andy

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I was wondering if there were any astronomy buffs out there that might could answer this question. I usually take the dog outside to do her business about 8:00-9:00 pm (CST) in the evening. Directly overhead lately there is a very bright object that I am assuming to be a planet. It is yellow/orangish in color and not too far above the top of the constellation Orion. I am assuming it is Jupiter or Saturn, but I don't really know for sure.

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Are you sure it isn't part of Orion (the upper left corner)? That's Betelgeuse (sp?)...a reddish orange star that is VERY bright.

I don't believe there are any planets in that vicinity during that time of night. Does it stay in the same spot relative to other stars, or is it on a different path through the night?

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I think it is very cool to be situated such that one can see the stars at night while from the yard. City lights are not helpful there at all. Also, some folks just have no interest.

Amy, do you watch the stars with Steven? You seem to have some considerable observations under your belt.

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Amy, do you watch the stars with Steven? You seem to have some considerable observations under your belt.

I wish I could see the stars from my house, but no such luck with the light pollution. If we do get a chance to get out of town, we look at stars quite a bit. Steven is fascinated by the moon, like many kids. Funny, I told him it was made of rock, and not a few days later, he picked up a rock in our driveway and said "Mommy, look, the MOON!" Now he's convinced the moon is falling to earth. I should've stuck with the age-old cheese theory.

I was very lucky--my high school had a planetarium, and I took astronomy my senior year. We spent A LOT of time identifying the stars in the sky. The mid-term and final exams were simply the teacher pointing to stars and/or constellations and us having to write down what he was pointing to. Spelling counted, and there were 100 questions per test. I scored 100% on both...I have been both blessed and cursed with a photographic memory.

I can still name most of the major starts today. Betelguese, Bellatrix, Rigel and Saiph are the 4 corners of Orion. See? It's annoying. [:)]

I also took a couple astronomy classes in college, but they didn't make us memorize like the class I took in high school.

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I wish I could see the stars from my house, but no such luck with the light pollution.


They're very bright in Mount Shasta. I'm tellin' you, it'd be a great pilgrimage location....

It's not until you have the chance to go someplace where you can really see the stars that you realize how much we've lost with the encroachment of large cities, lights and smog... a few years ago I spent several winters in Del Norte, Colorado on my girlfriend's ranch. About 225 miles southwest of Denver, 7900 ft up in the air in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Population was about 760 when I was there. We could sit on her front porch at night, and watch the satellites fly by overhead. I've never, ever been anyplace else where the stars were so thick and so close.

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I really think it's Mars, based on the sky charts that fini gives a link to. The object I see is right above Orion as I look at the southern sky - if you can imagine Orion as the hunter drawing a bow that it's supposed to represent, then this object is where about where his head would be (assuming the top two stars are his shoulder and arm). According to the sky chart, that is where Mars is in mid-February.

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Another bright orange one is Aldebaran, which is in Taurus. Looks like it would be right above Orion at that time of night also. I just don't think Mars would be very visible, and especially not what I would consider "bright." But maybe it could be, if you're in a very rural area.

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I've never, ever been anyplace else where the stars were so thick and so close.

I felt the same way when I was in the Air Force stationed remote in Iceland for a year. I have never seen so many stars since in a night sky plus the northern lights!

When you see a night sky that is covered in stars it makes you realize why ancient man was enthralled by the stars and sun and worshiped them.

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I too noticed a very bright red/orange object last night & wondered what it was. It seemed unusual enough that & went back inside to get my binoculars for a better look (of course trying to look at the heavens through a pair of binoculars is a recipe for vertigo). Facing north, it was almost directly overhead at ~9 or 10 pm PST.

I went back outside a couple of hours latter & it had moved a considerable distance (~20 - 30 degrees in a northeasterly direction).

I know nothing about astronomy (other than maybe being able to pick out the big dipper). I guessed it was, maybe, the space station since it had moved so far between my observations.

James

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Eureka!

As a side note, I took a couple astronomy classes in college. I was also enrolled in an etching class, so I created a project I used in both classes: An etching depicting William Herschel discovering Uranus. You can just imagine...

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