Help- What Did I See Next To Jupiter This Morning Please- 16Th Jan 6.30 Am

[davids12]

Hi everyone, newbie here.

I went to my window to observe the ISS this morning and watched it sail near Jupiter in the west.

But before (and after that) I was drawn to a smudge type object close to the lower right of Jupiter. I thought it was a comet, but can't find any info.

It was at 6.30am I was looking west with binoculars. It was like a galaxy/comet - but having never observed either before I am stumped.

(It was not visible after c. 6.50 too  bright)

ANY ideas / solid help 

Thank You

Davi

[brantuk]

It coulda been NGC3521 in the position you describe at 6:30am. It's a galaxy with a magnitude of 8.9 some 30 million light years away. Unless of course it was a brighter object that you can describe in more detail. Was it anything like this?

http://www.billionsandbillions.com/ngc_3521.html

Galaxies do have a habit of disappearing once there's any light in the sky.

[davids12]

Hi Brantuk,

THANKS for the reply. 

I wouldn't know a galaxy if I fell over one, but if that is what I saw, and it looks the right shape and angle, then I am amazed !

It was through my binoculars and looked about 6 to 8 times or more as wide as jupiter, and to jupiter's lower right by about  2 degrees (finger widths).

I have always wanted to see the andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula but can never get a good sighting to make out much, and I thought they would be easier to see...but is this galaxy you mention that easily observable through binocs ?

I am OK at finding major constellations and stars but if galaxies are that easy WOW!!

How sure are you that I saw that galaxy please ?

THANKS again.....I could easily get hooked on star spotting now ;-)

David

[Stu]

Can't find anything obvious that would have been visible, other than Kim's suggestion. Was it in the same field of view as Jupiter or did you pan around to find it?

[Stu]

Hi Brantuk,

THANKS for the reply.

I wouldn't know a galaxy if I fell over one, but if that is what I saw, and it looks the right shape and angle, then I am amazed !

It was through my binoculars and looked about 6 to 8 times or more as wide as jupiter, and to jupiter's lower right by about 2 degrees (finger widths).

I have always wanted to see the andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula but can never get a good sighting to make out much, and I thought they would be easier to see...but is this galaxy you mention that easily observable through binocs ?

I am OK at finding major constellations and stars but if galaxies are that easy WOW!!

How sure are you that I saw that galaxy please ?

THANKS again.....I could easily get hooked on star spotting now ;-)

David

Hi David,

I suspect sadly the answer is that you didn't see the Galaxy. The one mentioned is much further from Jupiter and probably too dim to see. It is possible it was a group of unresolved stars but I'm not sure.

Do have a go for M42 again, under good conditions it is certainly possible with binoculars.

[Norfolk star gazer]

I was looking at Jupiter at about the same time this morning with my 10 inch scope and didn't spot anything close by, but to be honest, I was not looking for anything else. Only got in about 30 mins viewing of Jupiter and Mars before the clouds rolled in and I packed away before the hail came down!

If what you saw was that big in binoculars, then it would have been huge in the scope!

If I have clear skies tomorrow morning, I will look out for it and repor back.

[davids12]

Hi Stu, 

Yes it was in same field of view as Jupiter - as described above. Not too far and at about 5 o'clock from Jupiter  and VERY obvious, possibly saw it with naked eye as a 'star'.

It looked like a comet but it was too 'smudgy', and looked MUCH bigger and wider so at first I thought it was a galaxy....but it was definitely there. Could it have been a cloud ? it remained static for well over ten mins though. And was visible throughout the time I observed.

Any further help ideas appreciated.

I will be up tomorrow morning checking for it again.

[davids12]

That is if I did see Jupiter ? - it was in west / sw and bright high up.. and ISS passed by it BELOW at 6.38 ish. I did see 'mars'  further to the sw in the same viewing, so I am pretty sure I saw both planets.

The only thing I can think is the 'Galaxy' was a cloud then ? but it was stationary ....or moving VERY slowly.

[DRT]

Could it have been the remnants of a contrail from an aircraft?

[Joe12345]

Were you viewing from inside? Windows can cause a double or triple of bright objects.

[davids12]

THANKS for all the replies guys.

DRT no definitely not, and Yes Joe I was observing inside thro' windows, but allowing for both effects, and having re-focussed a number of times on Jupiter and mars and the ISS as it moved across the sky with my binocs......I kept going back to this object and it was like a 'galaxy' - at first i thought it might be saturn full on as it was large, MUCH longer and  larger than jupiter, just like a large galaxy. ( And Saturn is not in west or near Jupiter.)

This is puzzling now.

I KNOW I saw it so it must have been a cloud? 

planes crossed by it and it was not a trail from a plane .

It was like a 'galaxy' / very wide 'comet with big trail' thro' binocs.

I will need to look again tomorrow morning now.........

I could not make out much on Jupiter but saw it as a bright planet .......at the position of 5 o' clock below was this shape and it was stationary as though it was a celestial object BUT definitely MUCH too big to be a star or planet - as I say it was  VERY large thro' binocs in same field of view and like a spiral galaxy shape. This was between 6.25 and 6.50 when I stopped looking .

[DRT]

Do you have double glazing?

It sounds to me that you were looking at an artifact of Jupiter on the inside pane of glass caused by the refraction of some of the bright light coming from the planet projecting from the outside pane. That would explain why it looked to be static in relation to Jupiter. It's disappearance would be explained by the apparent dimming of Jupiter as the sky around it became brighter with the sunrise.

[brantuk]

Yup - now I know you were inside looking through the window I have to agree it coulda been any of the above suggestions. But if you'd like to see a galaxy - you can see Andromeda naked eye if you know where it is. But it won't be anything like a picture - it'll just be an oval grey smudge with a brighter central core.

With binoculars from a dark site on a clear transparent night it'll still be a smudge but with a bit more definition. I like looking at M31 with 15x70's - nice wide view shows how huge it is. Another easy galaxy pair is M81/M82 - but you will need bins or scope. Google any of those for finding instructions using constellation stars as pointers. Exciting, isn't it......

[Tinker1947]

If you don't have Stellarium no would be a good time to download it and check the surrounding area for your self.....

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/

[davids12]

THANKS for ALL the suggestions guys....I won't take up any more of your time.

I need to go outside in next couple of days and check to see what I saw.

Will report back

Again THANKS...hope we have clear skies for the next week !!!

[Cactusstar]

I use starwalk on my ipad and went back to 6:15am on the 16th i put the location of London in nit sure where in uk you are. The only thing showing up near where you saw it is hr4455 but doubt it was that but i am a newbie too .

Have attached a screen shot.

[2STAR]

On ‎16‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 09:29, DRT said:

Do you have double glazing?

It sounds to me that you were looking at an artifact of Jupiter on the inside pane of glass caused by the refraction of some of the bright light coming from the planet projecting from the outside pane. That would explain why it looked to be static in relation to Jupiter. It's disappearance would be explained by the apparent dimming of Jupiter as the sky around it became brighter with the sunrise.

Double Glazing can bring all kinds of shapes ,light levels and smudges into view via binoculars, what I thought was my first sight of Comet Catalina turned out to be a trick on the eye via my binoculars caused by the double glazing, I was looking in the right location and thought wow that was easy, until I moved and realised the 'comet' was a reflection trail of the star Alkaid!!!! caused by afore mentioned lol.

ps; went outside and after 10mins found the real thing.