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View Full Version : Curious Sight on Tuesday 12/18


Stacy
19-December-2007, 07:33 PM
Hello,
My name is Stacy. I am an amateur astronomer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yesterday I saw something unusual when I went outside my office to stretch my legs. It was 16:30 PST, clear sky (after rains).

Next to the moon, there was a point of light located about 4 o'clock to the right of it. I don't think it was a satellite or contrail. It was a stationary point. One hour later when I was leaving work, I made a note to look up thinking that perhaps it was still there in relative position - nothing.

Wish I had had my binoculars when I first saw it. I looked around to see if there was anything that might me reflecting off the edges of my contacts, but there was none.

I think thought, oh perhaps it is Mars, but that theory was depth charged when I realized that it wasn't going to clear the horizon for another few hours.

Double checking star charts to see if by chance it would be a daytime observation of a planet turned up nothing.

Dang...I irks me when I can not figure out what I am seeing...and this in particular because it does not conform to any phenomena that would provide an explaination.

Anyone else see this?

Clear skies, Stacy

aurora
19-December-2007, 07:55 PM
How long did you actually observe it? I was wondering about an Iridium, they can be seen in daytime sometimes. check heavens-above.com

Kaptain K
19-December-2007, 07:58 PM
Hello Stacy. Welcome to BAUT.

You seem to have eliminated the "usual suspects", so I'm going to take a wild guess. Maybe it was the Sun glinting off the wings of an incoming trans-pacific airliner. The path can be straight for minutes at a time and the path drop at a rate that will put it at ground level at the time it reaches the airport. That's an oversimplification, but in essence, it can look like it's coming straight at you for a long time. Hope this helps.

Stacy
19-December-2007, 09:35 PM
Hmm, did not think about Iridium or trans pacific flights...will check it out...thank you! Stacy