What Did I See

[charmedkelly]

I Forgot To Mention This The Other Night About 2-3 Weeks Ago I Was Out With The Scope And i Looked Up And I Saw These Two Lights Or Stars One Above The Other In A Perfect Line,

And There Were Moving Up, And There Were Dimming The Brightening ( if you no what i mean) they did this together at the same time and about 7-8 times then what happened next i was expecting they shot across the sky so far i could keep up.

what did i see ??? its baffled me

Kelly

Shed Some Light

[Doc]

Chinese Lanterns I would suspect. Was it around New Years Eve by any chance?

[yesyes]

hm....

As far as I know 2 stars are always in a perfect line; by definition.

On a more serious note, do you remember what direction you saw them in? The brightening and dimming were probably due to the atmosphere and seeing conditions.

And I'm not quite sure what you mean by "they shot across the sky so far i could keep up". They wouldn't have accelerated suddenly. Stars don't do that. Maybe the tracking on your telescope mount stopped for some reason?

[charmedkelly]

i wasnt using my scope just my naked eye , and they shot across the sky so fast and they wernt chinese lanturns thats for sure.

k

[kev 102 42]

you saw a U F O....................Kev

[brantuk]

Twin exhausts of a jet taking off away from you then turning L/R maybe? Do you live anywhere near an airport or RAF base?

[Doc]

You will be amazed at how fast these lanterns go if they get caught in a strong wind.

[yesyes]

especially when 2 are positioned in a perfect line... ;-)

[glowjet]

Two star points traveling together then shooting of at high speed eh!!, wait till you see them suddenly change direction at 45 degrees as I have, you will be even more confused, remember, " The truth is out there". IMHO UFO`s.

[yesyes]

I want to believe... ;-)

[lennoxlude]

I Forgot To Mention This The Other Night About 2-3 Weeks Ago I Was Out With The Scope And i Looked Up And I Saw These Two Lights Or Stars One Above The Other In A Perfect Line,

And There Were Moving Up, And There Were Dimming The Brightening ( if you no what i mean) they did this together at the same time and about 7-8 times then what happened next i was expecting they shot across the sky so far i could keep up.

what did i see ??? its baffled me

Kelly

Shed Some Light

i know last year i noticed people from the street looking up at the sky, so i went out. they thought they was seeing a UFO,which i quickly told them while laughing that it was lanterns, and back in they went.

the only thing that i can come into mind is planes. it could be a UFO, but remember, a UFO doesn't have to mean aliens, it just means an unidentified flying object, which at the moment, it's unidentified.

[mickyjd]

I would agree that by the sound of this, these were chinese lanterns the flickering wold be due to the candles were they an orangy colour? These lanterns when set off together usually follow the same flight pattern the sudden change in direction and speed is usually due to winds higher up and it is common for these to speed up and slow down depending on hieght. Where i live they are always setting these off so i have seen quite a few.

[yesyes]

something like this maybe?

YouTube - UFO Orbs Over Southampton UK - 25th June 07

[matt c]

I also saw 3 of these things in a line (not a straight one), plus a forth one was moving side to side in front of them. They where moving extremely quickly, they passed though the dipper in around 2 seconds, as weird as they look I would put money on them being lanterns.

[mickyjd]

That looks like classic lantens to me yesyes i see you have the same scope and mount as myself i have just bought mine so if you have any tips on how to get the best out of it for imaging it would be appreciated.

I use a canon 350D woud i be better off with a webcam?

[yesyes]

I only use a webcam because I don't have a DSLR (yet). SWMBO doesn't approve the budget for it. ;-)

Though I think webcams also have their advantages, for the moon and planets for example. But I bet you can do some nice DSO imaging with your 350D.

Just ask if you have any questions regarding the scope/mount.

[mickyjd]

Thanks for that yesyes will do, i have only had it out on 3 occasions and seem to be getting the hang of it so far but may need some help when it comes to the precise go to. Know what you mean about the budget expensive hobby this.

Cheers

[yesyes]

I'm no expert yet either. I bought my scope in October last year and had it out maybe once or twice a month on average.

But I'm willing to help. Sometimes it's better to work things out together ..

[mickyjd]

Have you got round to linking yours up with a laptop yet and if you have what software are you running it with. I am looking to link mine in the near future will let you know how i get on. How are you finding the scope? i am pleased with the quality of it and the views i am getting i have also took a few pics which could be better but i am quite pleased with. If you do get round to buying a DSLR can i suggest you go for one with live view. The 350D i have has not got this feature and it is quite hard to focus.

[yesyes]

No, I haven't connected the scope up to a computer yet (apart from the webcam). I have a cable lying around that only needs a DB9 serial port connector soldered onto it but haven't got around to it. I have Redshift 6 software which supports ACSOM drivers and I heard there is a ASCOM plugin for Stellarium too to control the scope.

I'm quite happy with the scope so far but I think it's not collimated very well. Waiting for delivery of a colli cap from FLO and will then attempt to collimate it better.

If I buy a DSLR, it will be a EOS 1000D or 450D and just maybe even a 500D, depending on how much budget I get approved... ;-) I gathered from this forum that both LiveView and bulb exposure settings are must have features these days...