Any astronomers here?

[Brigid]

I live in Indiana, and when I look in the western sky tonight I think I see a comet. Is there one traveling close to the earth right now?

[marybourg]

1. Describe what you see.

[Brigid]

3. It looks like a star, but a liitle larger and brighter.

It's also blurry around the edges, unlike other stars. It's really quite beautiful.

[marybourg]

4. Permanut is probably right,

but I have another thought. If you like, turn your head slightly away from the object, then look at it from the corner of your eye and see if it looks the same or different.

[jakeXT]

16. Maybe your eyes are producing this effect

University Lowbrow Astronomers
Naked Eye Observer’s Guide
...

Night Myopia

Many people suffer from near-sightedness or myopia, and they correct for it with eyeglasses or contact lenses. It has been known for some time that myopia often gets worse when observing at night. This is called night myopia. It’s not a serious condition, and most people don’t realize they have it. It’s temporary and goes away during the daytime. However if you suffer from this condition, your night visible isn’t quite as good as it could be and you may not be able to see some of the objects described earlier in this article.

If you use a telescope or binoculars, the focus knob will allow you to compensate for night myopia. However this doesn’t work for naked eye observing

...

http://www.umich.edu/~lowbrows/guide/eye.html

[Permanut]

2. That would be Venus...

Details at the Astronomy website

http://www.astronomy.com

Venus is extremely bright right now, at magnitude -4.6. The negative magnitudes apply to the brightest objects.

[Brigid]

5. That looks like what I saw.

Thanks.

[pokerfan]

8. Also Mars is high in SE after sunset

with Saturn rising after it. Planets are really good right now. Best chance to see Mercury will be pre-dawn in another week.

[longship]

6. Venus is the most often thing described as a UFO

Next to the Moon, that is.

There are any number of atmospheric conditions that give rise to visual anamolies which, when they are observed, result in something which looks weird, something you don't see every night. The reason you call it a UFO is that you don't see it every night.

You say that you know what the Moon (Venus) looks like? Good, but you might not have seen it under the conditions of tonight's clouds, or through tree branches, or some other visual aberration.

As a frustrated amateur astronomer I see this shit all the time. It usually means that it isn't worth dragging my scope out for observing.

[laconicsax]

7. I would have thought Iridium satellites held that distinction.

The first time I saw one I didn't know what the hell had just happened.

[longship]

9. I bow to your eminence!

They are awesome! I agree and gladly grovel to your wisdom. But what about the ever transiting ISS? Does that not factor into your equation?

To say nothing of the Pleiades, from which, apparently, all extraterrestrials originate.

[laconicsax]

10. Huh?

[longship]

11. Twas a little joke.

A very little joke.

Sorry, shoulda put the obligatory

I thought your post was on target. Iridiums are awesome.

[laconicsax]

14. That's what I thought.

I just wasn't sure, and it never hurts to try and be sure.

[jakeXT]

12. The first time I ever saw one was by accident

I was searching with binoculars for the Andromeda galaxy, when I spotted the comet Ikea Zhang. With today's light pollution or even ten years ago neither of them were really that visible for the naked
eye.


I wish I could see the dark night sky from an island, in a desert or a high mountain.

[scubadude]

13. Tropical islands are not that great.

I live on Guam, and the humidity kills viewing. Yes, it is very very dark here, but I could actually see more stars from rural Illinois than I can here. So it goes...

[jakeXT]

15. I assume there are a couple of constellations and objects, which can never be seen from Illinois

[scubadude]

17. Sometime during the year you can see virtually the entire sky from Guam.

The Southern Cross is amazing from Guam, but the Milky Way is much more vivid in rural Illinois.

The best place for astronomy is on top of a mountain or in a desert away from cities.

Look into the international dark sky association or look here: http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/


Scuba