object ID help

[Budding Star Gazer]

ok this may seem a little bit of a strange question but i need a little help on something.

my gps location is Latitude: 51.5 (51° 3(something)' N)

Longitude: 0.4 (0° 2(something)) united kingdom

the object is in the south east

i first noticed it 2 days ago while laying in bed through the rear window it seem to track left to right going out of view from my window 2ft across in about 30-40 minutes with the colour changing between red/blue,white.

the strange thing is it seems to have a slight wobble to it between left and right also up and down in altitude as it rises higher in the night sky

the first time i see it i watched for a while and put it down to a disatant plane but now 2 days later i'm looking at it again so i know its not a plane.

a satallite maybe ? only problem with that is i've never seen a satallite flash in colour like that before.

and before you a sk no i'm not crazy, drunk or been drinking, no drugs either i'm watching it as i type this.

[insomnia]

Sounds like you are seeing Jupiter cross the sky

[Budding Star Gazer]

sorry the location was wrong it can be seen at 36 degrees n/e

[Budding Star Gazer]

i,ve watched jupiter before i cant say ive ever seen that wobble effect before ?

[Bizibilder]

Are you sure its the North East?

[insomnia]

Now the directions have changed then its def not Jupiter

[kidlands]

whats your exact location (town) and rough location object would be above ie the sea, town, island etc?

Its been windy lately so that might explain the motion confirming a terrestrial origin.

[Budding Star Gazer]

location = Latitude: 51.528984 (51° 31' 44.34'' N)

Longitude: 0.451641 (0° 27' 5.91'' O) essex uk

object is to the left of the moon at about 36-38 degrees north east

looking at stellerium M34 maybe ? ngc 1207 ?

just that little wobble has me interested never seen that before

[Jakstaar17]

Could it be Capella?

That is the brightest star in that region currently for me, and that is flickering quite a bit, very noticeably with the naked eye.

Looks like it is flickering orangey-yellow and white.

[brantuk]

Hi Bud - download Stellarium free planetarium software. It'll give you a good idea of what you are seeing any night of the year at your location

[Budding Star Gazer]

cheers brantuk

i do have stellarium, but still very new at this so still have a lot to learn

[Pauly]

Did you ever work out what you were looking at?

[toml42]

I agree it was most likely capella, or another bright, low star. atmospheric turbulence will cause low stars to flicker quite intensely, and this is more obvious on brighter stars which you may have interpreted as a wobble.

This is also the cause of the shifting colours, the atmosphere refracts light, breaking the light of the star down like a prism, and the turbulence shifts these colours around. it happens to all stars, but is most obvious on lower stars as the light must pass through more atmosphere, and on brighter stars, as it's simply easier for the eye to pick up.