Has anyone seen anything like this before ... ?

[beachphotographer]

Hi Peter,

Sirius wasn't directly behind it, it was 20-30 degrees to the right, you pretty much had to turn your head to see the two different lights. There's no way you could mistake them when you were viewing them with the naked eye.

[beachphotographer]

The only thing I don't understand, is that if I was seeing a reflection of Sirius which was far to the right, how would this thing flash brightly and consistently with the same order of colour every time and bounce all over the place when Sirius was just still in the same place 30 degrees to the right.

[beachphotographer]

I've just checked on a star map and the 'weird light' I highlighted in the wide angle photo is definitely sirius, but this definitely wasn't what I was shooting with the telephoto lens. Sirius was to the left of it.

[Doc]

I've just checked on a star map and the 'weird light' I highlighted in the wide angle photo is definitely sirius, but this definitely wasn't what I was shooting with the telephoto lens. Sirius was to the left of it.

Problem is there is nothing to the right of Sirius on your photo except for Saiph which is the bottom left star of Orion.

How dim was this object?

[Cornelius Varley]

I have downloaded the RAW file and I would like to make some further comments. The star in the top right hand corner of the photograph shows some evidence of vibration at the start of the exposure. All the star trails are of the the same length, this includes the "weird light". This implies that the light was moving at the same rate as the other stars ie 15 degrees per hour (sidereal rate). Comparing the placement of the star trails withh a star atlas shows that the "weird light" is Sirius. The movement at the beginning of the exposure is vibration in the camera caused by the mirror moving before the shutter opened. It is quite clear that the bright light is Sirius and the movement is caused by vibration.

Peter

[Jupiter Martin]

I would say some kind of camera movement.

If you look at the similar photo that someone gave us a link to if you look at the top left you can see a very faint exact same movement on one of the stars

[Glider]

Is it a satellite fitted with an 'electrodynamic bolo tether'. This can be used as a means of generating electrical power, or the tether can be used either to accelerate or brake spacecraft.

[Deneb]

Maybe an experimental aircraft " A Military UFO " - you can tell i've been watching too much x-files. It's funny that people mostly report seeing these things near water.

Nadeem.

[Breakintheclouds]

I'm totally happy to believe you, Beachphotographer, that you and your brother saw this movement, but I'm also quite convinced by the shutter-slap explanations for the photo. Can I suggest there's a slight coincidence going on? You got a shutter-slapped picture of Sirius, as people have suggested, and, because of the conditions on the night, you also saw Sirius appear to dance around a bit owing to its brightness and the atmospheric conditions - something that we've all seen to some extent. Either of these events on its own - seeing a bright star dance, or getting a shaky photo - wouldn't excite people too much: it's the fact you got both at the same time that's made this such a talking point.