29 replies to this topic

[Jsg]

It makes no sense but I saw what I saw. Last night, 5-7-24, 9:30 approx. Pac time, looking at M53 glob cluster, on its outer perimeter I seemed to see an intermittent point of light, small,faint, a second or two on and off, for 5 or six intermittent flashes. Then nothing. Wasn't a jet or your normal satellite. Can't account for it as an odd reflection from a passing vehicle or similar.

Thoughts? Higher altitude satellite?

APM 152/1200 apo doublet, 20mm Nagler type 2. From northern California.

[NinePlanets]

I was going to suggest a tumbling/defunct geosynchronous satellite, but M53 is about 18 degrees north of the equator and that seems pretty high for one of those.

 

???

[Larry Geary]

If it was stationary relative to M53, then it might be a faint star going in and out with the atmospheric seeing.

[Jsg]

Wikipedia reports numerous variables in M53 but nothing with such a short period.

[12BH7]

I saw something similar to that while viewing Jupiter. A distant flash of light that did not move. It happened several times, stopped, and never saw it again.

[Jsg]

Sunlight reflection against the metallic sides of tumbling geosynchronous satellites?

Or the zombie apocalypse?

[jmillsbss]

That tricky Planet X is at it again!  Sneaky devil!!!

[Keith Rivich]

+1 on a high altitude satellite. I see these quite often in the 25". 

[bikerdib]

I agree with Larry, I suspect a star right on the borderline of magnitude visibility in your scope and varying seeing and/or transparency.

[12BH7]

As I have seen what the OP is talking about, I would have to agree with Keith's VERY high altitude satellite explanation. But it would have to be real high up there.

[Keith Rivich]

I agree with Larry, I suspect a star right on the borderline of magnitude visibility in your scope and varying seeing and/or transparency.

Perhaps. But stars at the margins of visibility won't blink on and off. They would ease from averted to direct vision but still would be difficult to see. From the OP's description I interpret it was fairly bright. 

Edited by Keith Rivich, 08 May 2024 - 11:33 AM.

[Jsg]

Not extremely bright, really barely visible, but noticeably blinking on/off

[bikerdib]

Not extremely bright, really barely visible, but noticeably blinking on/off

OK, if it was on and off like a lightswitch, it was not a star at the edge of visability.  I didn't read that point into the original post, sorry.

[Jsg]

That was what struck me most about it and why I posted, maybe I could have emphasized that more. I've never seen an on/off blinking light in my scope except of course for jets or maybe obvious satellites. What in the universe blinks like that, in intervals of a second or two? Rotating radio sources? But I suspect the culprit is quite mundane if unidentified, maybe even space junk reflecting sunlight. 

 

But the Sumerians did predict the return of Planet X (Nibiru) along its elliptical orbit at some point...

[yuzameh]

You don't seem to mention if it was faint or distinct.

 

Otherwise I'd go with what others are saying, bits of good seeing, and comibine it with averted vision.  It can be hard when something pops into view to not look at it directly then if you look away from it again you see it again, avertedly (peripherally).  A combination of the two for faint stuff and a short bit of very good seeing could lead to this I suppose.

 

I usually play the 'blinking' game directly with M13 for example.  If I gawp directly at it I can see stars as separate resolved things at the edge of it, if I gawp directly at them suddenly the central regions resolve out.  Telescope aperture and magnification used at the time also come into that.

 

EDIT I combine it with the seeing point because transient exceptional seeing (a cell of stable atmosphere lasting half a dozen seconds or so and not always occurring more than once in a viewing session, it at all) makes this half baked theory potentially applicable.  Averted vision alone would lead to the blinking effect NOT having gone away.

Edited by yuzameh, 08 May 2024 - 12:30 PM.

[yuzameh]

if your eyeballs were CCDs I'd say it's an upper atmosphere random cosmic ray shower leading to retinal photoreceptor hotspots

 

Thus explaining the short duration of the blinking event.

[Jsg]

It was both faint and distinct. I stared at it upon seeing it since it was unusual, and caught several blinks with direct vision, not averted. There was something up there blinking, so it seemed. 

 

Could also be a neuro receptor chemical imbalance in my retinal ion flow, due to excessive age and lingering effects of past substance intake.

 

But I'm going with random high altitude satellite reflection of sunlight at 75% possibility, or aliens on Nibiru attempting to communicate with Earth at 25%.

[Starhunter249]

Some Geo-stationary satellites do blink, however, you would see it move eastwardly in relationship to the background stars or in in this case M53. Any satellites below geo-stationary orbit, which is 22,500 miles about the surface of the earth, would be moving faster. If this object didn't move in relationship of your position on earth and M53, it could be a satellite far beyond geo orbit or more likely space junk like a rocket stage tumbling very far out beyond geo-orbit but not so far that you can still detect the sun's reflection and it's movement is too slow from your vantage point to detect in that time frame. Maybe its Elon Musk's space launched roadster is making a return flyby to earth. Pun intended.

[Jsg]

Musk could use the publicity perk at this point.

 

I didn't see it long enough to detect motion relative to the background.

 

Nor could I quite make out the brand of the valve stems on the tires of the roadster. 

Edited by Jsg, 08 May 2024 - 01:33 PM.

[Keith Rivich]

Some Geo-stationary satellites do blink, however, you would see it move eastwardly in relationship to the background stars or in in this case M53. Any satellites below geo-stationary orbit, which is 22,500 miles about the surface of the earth, would be moving faster. If this object didn't move in relationship of your position on earth and M53, it could be a satellite far beyond geo orbit or more likely space junk like a rocket stage tumbling very far out beyond geo-orbit but not so far that you can still detect the sun's reflection and it's movement is too slow from your vantage point to detect in that time frame. Maybe its Elon Musk's space launched roadster is making a return flyby to earth. Pun intended.

Wrong part of the sky for a geo-sync. Unless its lost its way!

[Starhunter249]

Wrong part of the sky for a geo-sync. Unless its lost its way!

This is true. I didn't check M53's coordinates.

[12BH7]

You don't seem to mention if it was faint or distinct.

 

Otherwise I'd go with what others are saying, bits of good seeing, and comibine it with averted vision.  It can be hard when something pops into view to not look at it directly then if you look away from it again you see it again, avertedly (peripherally).  A combination of the two for faint stuff and a short bit of very good seeing could lead to this I suppose.

 

I usually play the 'blinking' game directly with M13 for example.  If I gawp directly at it I can see stars as separate resolved things at the edge of it, if I gawp directly at them suddenly the central regions resolve out.  Telescope aperture and magnification used at the time also come into that.

 

EDIT I combine it with the seeing point because transient exceptional seeing (a cell of stable atmosphere lasting half a dozen seconds or so and not always occurring more than once in a viewing session, it at all) makes this half baked theory potentially applicable.  Averted vision alone would lead to the blinking effect NOT having gone away.

No, this was in no way an averted vision thing. I was looking directly at it when I saw it. It was a faint point light, a few long blinks like a light being purposely turned on and off and then stopped. 

 

What I saw was on the limb of Jupiter. At the time I had considered that I was seeing an impact. But there was no conformational evidence to support that. But that's how bright and distant it appeared. 

[Jsg]

Ditto here. At first I caught it in averted vision, but then, having seen what appeared to be blinking I was intrigued and focused directly on it. Faint but distinct, it clearly blinked a few times at about one second intervals, then gone.

The fact that 12Bh7 saw something similar on the edge (limb?) of Jupiter correlates with the fact that what I saw was on the edge of glob M53. Some sort of light distortion caused by or associated with the light of the object, similar to grav lensing? I know just enough about physics to be dangerous.

[12BH7]

I know just enough about physics to be dangerous.

And I was going to let you play with my cyclotron - not any more!

 

I'm thinking more like it was a space ship pulling down a spring loaded shade that kept popping back up. 

[Jsg]

Well, Soyuz, my plans to use your cyclotron to distort the surrounding electro-mechanical field to cause a hydogen/helium fusion reaction inside the chamber must be scratched, I suppose, but when it burnt up your circuitry you would have been mad at me anyway.

 

Yes, alien spring-loaded shade technology is a bit behind the curve, their version of faulty Chinese technology. Some things never change, even in the inter-stellar economy.