What is this?

[damalynyk]

Hello. I currently live in Northern Ontario, Canada. I know absolutely nothing about astronomy and am very curious about an object that I see every night.

When I first saw it, I thought it was just another "twinkling" star. But I don't believe it is. It is located in the northeastern sky and appears in the same place every night at approximately 8:30pm. It does not move. It is very bright and after viewing it with binoculars, we realized that it is actually changing colors (white, red, green). Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

My husband continually teases me saying that the aliens are watching me. And trying to figure it out is driving me crazy.

Any help and/or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Deb

[umadog]

It sounds very much like you've found Jupiter! So you're right: it's not a star.

The colours are due to the turbulence of the Earth's atmosphere refracting the light. Take a look at it at 22:30 once it's higher in the sky. You will see that it no longer exhibits those colours. The light has to pass through more air when an object is near the horizon.

You willl see that Jupiter appears to be a small disk, whereas the other stars you look at with your binoculars will look like points of lights. You are seeing Jupiter's surface! It gets better, though. Even with binoculars that magnify 8x you will see the 4 moons of Jupiter (Callisto, Io, Ganymede, and Europa) to either side. They look like little stars very close to the planet and arranged in a line. Not all 4 are always visible as some may be hidden behind Jupiter or crossing the surface. If you make a note of where they are and come back in an hour or two you will see that they've moved a little. Sometimes you'll notice more motion than other times, it depends how the moons are arranged. Io, for instance, is closest to Jupiter and orbits the fastest. You are most likely, therefore, to notice Io's movements. Here's a short article I found: http://www.universetoday.com/19035/jupiter-in-a-telescope/

You can download a free planetarium software package known as Stellarium (Stellarium). Set your location and date. Find Jupiter (press F3 to search by name). Zoom into it (control and "up") and you will see the moons labeled. Hop back and forth in time to watch the moons move. Set the time to "now" and you can try to identify the moons with binoculars.

If your interested in seeing it through a telescope (you will see cloud bands across the surface of the planet) then head over to Google and search for your local astronomy club. Most clubs are keen to show things to non-astronomers. Tell them you want to see Jupiter and find out if they're doing a viewing night.

[DavidOfBanff]

Download Stellarium, insert your location, and compare it against what you are seeing.

[wrinkly]

Of course, your husband is right.

The aliens on Jupiter are observing you.

[Pete Presland]

here is alink to stellarium,the best astro freebie on the net

Stellarium

[damalynyk]

Thank you for your responses. I downloaded the software and added my location. Unfortunately, it shows Jupiter located to the south. My back deck faces east. When I go outside and make a 1/4 turn to my left, I can see this object just above the tree line at 21:00. I believe this is north. Could this be Mars?

I'm even more curious now!

[Nexus 6]

Hi Deb. does Stellarium not confirm any major stars in that position?

Perhaps Capella would be one that springs to mind.

[umadog]

I think either something's wrong with what you've entered because Jupiter is definitely in the East at that time: it has to be because it rises more or less directly from the East as the sun and moon do. When I add your time and location in Stellarium, I see Jupiter rising to the East as expected. Mars rises substantially later in the night. Jupiter will be the brightest thing in the sky.

[great_bear]

Make sure you've got your location correct in stellarium, and set the time to match the time you observed it.

[topdude]

It is located in the northeastern sky and appears in the same place every night at approximately 8:30pm. It does not move. It is very bright and after viewing it with binoculars, we realized that it is actually changing colors (white, red, green)

I think i saw that too. I had a quick look around at 9PM with binocularsand there was a twinkling/ colour changing point of light in the north somewhere around Ursa Major / Ursa Minor. Definitely low in the Northern sky. Jupiter was low in the East. ??

[brantuk]

I would suggest using a compass to confirm your bearing. Your deck might not be exactly East and a quarter turn left might not be exactly North. Or you can check out true North using the pole star located with the Plough pointer stars and Casiopoea.

Then use stellarium to identify the object position more exactly. A visit to your local astro soc might be fruitful - someone will be sure to let you view it through their scope and tell you all about it

[JB80]

Or you can check out true North using the pole star

To me it sounds as if it is the pole star that they are seeing, if it doesn't move then that's your culprit.

[brantuk]

Why didn't I think of that Jarrod? lol

[umadog]

My bet is still Jupiter because it's the brightest thing is the sky and its rising time coincides with the reported time of appearance and the twinkling matches. By "not move" most newcomers probably mean "it doesn't look like a satellite." Polaris isn't terribly salient and you'd have to be paying attention to notice what's going on there.

[damalynyk]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I think that I have figured it out. At 20:00 this object was almost directly opposite the moon (I can't find a compass), which is located to the south tonight. When I looked at Stellarium, Capella was the brightest star in that area. After doing some research, it sounds like this might be it.

This star is so different from anything I've ever seen, I ALMOST started believing it was aliens!! Ha!

Thanks again!

[nicnac]

if you have a smart phone, pick up the google sky map app, all you have to do is open the app and point it at the "aliens" ( ) and hey presto

edit -: you can get a compass app too