for about the past 2 weeks i have been outside at night and looked up to see an amber colored star that was twinkling. Each night the color seemed to change a little bit.finally the past 5 or 6 nights it has been blinking different colors such as green, blue, purple, orange and red. all in soft tones of color but not like a pastel. its quite noticable though. its not quite as big and bright as the north star. so i know its not a tall light pole dont give a dumb answer please, im not on an acid trip or anything. i do live close to cherry point marine corps air station and camp lejeune marine corps base so dont know if perhaps it is an extremely slow plane or something they have going on. but it is far away so im pretty sure it is a star. it stays in the same place for at least 30 minutes and sometimes it will stop shining completely for a few minutes. (i dont think its clouds passing over though b/c i could still see all the surrounding stars.)
2006-08-23 06:53:24 · 11 answers · asked by BCBGirl 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
it might be mars (but i dont know why it was blinking colors like green etc)
i read something about mars being closer to the earth than ever before and it will never be this close for like 200 years (or something, i forgot) and it said that you'll be able to see mars with the naked eye at night (10 pm... 12:30) like during this month...
2006-08-23 06:56:16 · answer #1 · answered by spoof ♫♪ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not knowing where in the sky you see this star, my guess you are seeing Mars. It normally is a redish star, but with air movements, the "star" will appear to twinkle, change color. This is caused my the light being refracted by the atmosphere. It is a normal occurance. If you look at another bright star such as Vega, you will see the same twinkling or color changes but the base color will be whiter.
2006-08-23 07:17:16 · answer #2 · answered by jdomanico 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is probably a star, but it could be the planet Jupiter, which looks like a bright star high in the southwest at sunset. You would need to be familiar with the appearance of the sky, knowing some constellations and stars, to be sure. Jupiter is much brighter than the north star. In fact, the north star isn't even all that bright. There are about 50 stars in the sky that are brighter than the north star. The north star is special because of its location and not because it is bright.
2006-08-23 08:03:43 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Bright stars (especially brilliant white ones) will change color as the atmosphere changes. In the summer, with the humidity, it can seem that the star is changing color (one of the reasons the Hubble is flying up there above all that 'air')
Get a star chart and see what constellation the star is in... do a Google for 'online star chart' and you'll find something for sure.
good luck
2006-08-23 07:07:17 · answer #4 · answered by words_smith_4u 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Happened to me once. At first, I thought it was an airplane at a considerable distance (it did not seem to be moving), but it was there again the next night. It was nowhere near the ecliptic, so could not be a planet. I eyeballed the angular distance from the object to Polaris and to the constellation Cassiopeia, and was able to use this to identify it on a star chart. The atmosphere causes strange colors as well as amplitude variations.
2006-08-23 06:58:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a UFO, without a doubt. I saw something just like that while sailing near Halifax Nova Scotia Canada, March 2 1999 about 2230 hrs. It was cold but clear and calm as it ever gets in that area. The thing just hung there in the sky showing its colours like a peacock. We took photos but they didn't turn out. Other mariners were heard talking about it over the radio, so we know we weren't alone. Our experience also lasted about a half hour before the light disappeared.
Gives me the willies just thinking about it.
2006-08-23 07:18:58 · answer #6 · answered by Erica C 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is probably a planet. If it is near the horizon the light reflected from it passes through a lot of atmosphere, this splits the light in to different colours.
2006-08-23 06:58:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're probably seeing Mars. The color usually depends on the moon.
2006-08-23 06:56:05 · answer #8 · answered by lillibellemichele 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
could be a satelite...sinnce ur so close to military base...but don't forget it takes hundreds of yrs 4 starlight to reach us...so many stars blink diff colours if u look long enough...my ? is where does it go after 30 minutes?:)
2006-08-23 07:02:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Call Fox Mulder
2006-08-23 06:55:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋