Bright flash next to Vega

[Roundswithnocontext]

Any manage to see a very bright flash next to vega last night around 23:00 ? 

 

Basically I was taking images of c20 and by chance looked at vega and there was a bright flash for a brief moment! Not a shooting star as there were no movement or trail.. my reaction was "OH WOW" haha 

[Paul M]

These transients are not so unusual. There are a few potential sources.

One of those is a head on meteor, just a quick flash with no trail.

Other options are man made, satellite glints, aircraft strobe lights etc...

Another cause is human physiology, and the most likely cause of a lot of transient flashes I've seen. As we get older the vitreous humor in our eyeballs can begin to "shrink". This is one cause of "floaters", a common cause of detached retinas and "flashes". As the eyeball moves the vitreous can lag behind the motion and drag on the retina, thus stimulating the  retina. As I've got older I've stopped even thinking about them. It's a reflex to look at the spot where the flash seemed to occur but I don't dwell on it. 

Any sudden onset of visual disturbances should be checked over by a health care professional. They can be precursors to retinal detachment.

Also, high energy cosmic rays can directly stimulate the eye. I suspect this is quite rare for ground based observers.

There isn't any stellar origin for such a brief one-off flash. No mechanism by which a star can momentarily brighten in such a way as to be seen as a flash.

[Roundswithnocontext]

I hope it's not a health thing I'm 30 haha. Last night was very clear and all the satellites were very easy to spot that's why I don't think it was one as well as checking stellarium/skysafari straight after for passing. It was a fair bit brighter that vega (id say x2) not a clue.. definitely not a plane strobe light they are continuous. I'm guessing no one else spotted it 

[wulfrun]

11 minutes ago, Roundswithnocontext said:

definitely not a plane strobe light they are continuous.

Nope, strobes are stroboscopic, i.e. brief flashes, by definition.

[Paul M]

5 minutes ago, Roundswithnocontext said:

I'm guessing no one else spotted it 

Assuming it was Earth based, i.e. in the atmosphere or in low orbit, it's also going to be quite localised.

A head on meteor would only be head on, or extremely short trail, for observers in your general area - maybe town, city, county?

It's natural for the vitreous humor to metabolise, not really a health issue. I've been having flashes for many years. 

To be seen widely and appear in the same place in the sky, it would have a distant origin. But that isn't going to be stellar in origin.

[jjohnson3803]

On 12/08/2024 at 11:35, Paul M said:

Another cause is human physiology, and the most likely cause of a lot of transient flashes I've seen. As we get older the vitreous humor in our eyeballs can begin to "shrink". This is one cause of "floaters", a common cause of detached retinas and "flashes". As the eyeball moves the vitreous can lag behind the motion and drag on the retina, thus stimulating the  retina. As I've got older I've stopped even thinking about them. It's a reflex to look at the spot where the flash seemed to occur but I don't dwell on it. 

Any sudden onset of visual disturbances should be checked over by a health care professional. They can be precursors to retinal detachment.

Eye flashes

I'd bet it was a satellite flare of some kind though.

Edited August 16 by jjohnson3803