Does anyone have any experience in astronomy here?

[pjt]

Today I saw a fascinating sight in the sky and I don`t know what it was. I don`t know if it was something gallatic or earthly. I live in Asia between 2 airforce bases so it could be something from the military that I`ve never seen before or perhaps it was the planet Venus or some other gallatic thing. I honestly don`t know. But just before 5pm in the Western sky about midway not too high or low in the sky when the sky was still light and no other stars were out, my daughter and I saw an unusally bright light in the sky but it looked like 3 or 4 little lights lined up very closely together. We stopped to observe this light that just kind of hovered there. It wasn`t moving across the sky like an airplane and it was much much brighter than any airplane lights I`ve seen especially at this time of the day. Then it gradually got dimmer and smaller like it was going away then suddenly it burst into a big very bright light. When I say big I mean bigger than a big star but not big like the moon or sun and then it completely vanished with no trace. I lingered to see if it would return but once it made this big flash of light it was gone. The light was the color of a white star but much brighter. Any ideas?

 

[Pebbles]

Yes I know abit I have a passing interest.

It's not Venus if it exploded.

What you saw was something entering into the earths atmosphere it could have been a meteor, but it's more likely to have been an old communications satilite once they have exceeded there operational lifespan it's good practice to steer them into the planet so you don't have dangerous amounts of debris floating around in orbit making a hazard for others. Whitch is why china shooting down one of there own satellites with a missile was a stupid arrogant move.

The little line of lights was the object breaking up and some objects heat up and become bright when it exploded the object vaporized.

Congratulations it's a very rare sight :D if you got it on camera you could have had a report on the local news station.

 

[pjt]

Thank you Pebbles!!! That makes a lot of sense because I went out again tonight about 10 pm our time to see if I could see it again when I realized there`s not a single star visible in the sky (it`s a slightly cloudly day here) so then I was really mystified as to what I saw.
Unfortunately I didn`t have a camera. I was just walking home with my daughter, but it`s neat to know we saw a rare sight!!!

 

[Alabaster]

I think most people don't realize that there is a very real navigational hazard out there! There is a very dense debris field orbiting our planet, what with all the space activity over the last 50 years.

Space Debris Visualizations | Neogeography

From the article:


Since 1986 the European Space Agency has been tracking the amount of space junk orbiting the Earth. As part of this ongoing study, the ESA created a catalog of images to document and illustrate the debris field both in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and further out in Geostationary Orbit (GEO), and they’ve recently posted new pictures online. The images look straight out of WALL-E. We’ve all heard that there was a lot of crap in space, but this is insane.

Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on interplanetary trajectories.
Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational – roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).
​

 

[pjt]

I think most people don't realize that there is a very real navigational hazard out there! There is a very dense debris field orbiting our planet, what with all the space activity over the last 50 years.

Space Debris Visualizations | Neogeography

From the article:


Since 1986 the European Space Agency has been tracking the amount of space junk orbiting the Earth. As part of this ongoing study, the ESA created a catalog of images to document and illustrate the debris field both in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and further out in Geostationary Orbit (GEO), and they’ve recently posted new pictures online. The images look straight out of WALL-E. We’ve all heard that there was a lot of crap in space, but this is insane.

Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on interplanetary trajectories.
​

Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational – roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).
​

That`s interesting. I didn`t realize this either. I guess the real question though is what sort of an impact if any all this space debris has on our world. If it is merely a navigational hazard for astronaunts to fly into space, then I am probably one of the only people in this world that would think that`s good. I`ve never met another person that shares my opinion on this so I don`t expect anyone here to share that opinion either, but I have always felt flying into space was wrong so if space debris hinders people from rocketing into space, I think it may be a good thing.

 

[Alabaster]

Over time, most of this debris finds its way into the atmosphere and plummets to earth---anywhere. The thought of that can be unnerving for some. Maybe its good most people are unaware? There are so many fears out there!

 

[Tailgunner]

Over time, most of this debris finds its way into the atmosphere and plummets to earth---anywhere. The thought of that can be unnerving for some. Maybe its good most people are unaware? There are so many fears out there!

Fortunately for most man-made objects, when their orbit decays and they finally re-enter the atmosphere, they burn up completely before they reach the ground. (At least I hope they do!) :o

TG

 

[pjt]

Over time, most of this debris finds its way into the atmosphere and plummets to earth---anywhere. The thought of that can be unnerving for some. Maybe its good most people are unaware? There are so many fears out there!

I agree. There`s too much for people to have to think about than adding one more worry to the list--space debris!!!

 

[Lewis]

Today I saw a fascinating sight in the sky and I don`t know what it was. I don`t know if it was something gallatic or earthly. I live in Asia between 2 airforce bases so it could be something from the military that I`ve never seen before or perhaps it was the planet Venus or some other gallatic thing. I honestly don`t know. But just before 5pm in the Western sky about midway not too high or low in the sky when the sky was still light and no other stars were out, my daughter and I saw an unusally bright light in the sky but it looked like 3 or 4 little lights lined up very closely together. We stopped to observe this light that just kind of hovered there. It wasn`t moving across the sky like an airplane and it was much much brighter than any airplane lights I`ve seen especially at this time of the day. Then it gradually got dimmer and smaller like it was going away then suddenly it burst into a big very bright light. When I say big I mean bigger than a big star but not big like the moon or sun and then it completely vanished with no trace. I lingered to see if it would return but once it made this big flash of light it was gone. The light was the color of a white star but much brighter. Any ideas?

Oh no, I knew it was just a matter of time.

 

[jasoncran]

That`s interesting. I didn`t realize this either. I guess the real question though is what sort of an impact if any all this space debris has on our world. If it is merely a navigational hazard for astronaunts to fly into space, then I am probably one of the only people in this world that would think that`s good. I`ve never met another person that shares my opinion on this so I don`t expect anyone here to share that opinion either, but I have always felt flying into space was wrong so if space debris hinders people from rocketing into space, I think it may be a good thing.

Nervous Moments as 500-Pound Space Junk Nearly Hits Satellite - Los Angeles Times

 

[pjt]

Nervous Moments as 500-Pound Space Junk Nearly Hits Satellite - Los Angeles Times

This article touches on most of my reasons I`m against going into space. It amazes me that environamentalists aren`t against space travel. Actually it amazes me that anyone could be for it!!! I guess people just like the idea of adventure rather than practicality.

 

[pjt]

Oh no, I knew it was just a matter of time.

That`s funny!!!!

 

[pjt]

Congratulations it's a very rare sight :D if you got it on camera you could have had a report on the local news station.

After seeing the picture Alabaster provided and considering we are in a technological age where more and more countries are sending more and more stuff into space, it could be that in the near to mid future what I witnessed will not be such a rare sight anymore? It`s a possibility perhaps.