a star or a satellite?

Question

There's a shining light in the sky.how can i know if it is a satellite or a star.it has been there for three days without mooving

Answer 1

It's not a satellite. All the satellites that are close enough for you to see, are moving at a pretty good clip, more like the apparent speed of an airplane.

You didn't specify what time or which direction you were looking (that always helps). If it was toward the west, before about 11 pm, it was most likely Venus you were looking at. It has been very bright lately.

Answer 2

It's not a satellite. All the satellites that are close enough for you to see, are moving at a pretty good clip, more like the apparent speed of an airplane.

You didn't specify what time or which direction you were looking (that always helps). If it was toward the west, before about 11 pm, it was most likely Venus you were looking at. It has been very bright lately.

Answer 3

The really bright star in the west at dusk in Venus. The somewhat less bright, but still bright, star in the east early in the evening is Jupiter.

If it does not move all the way across the sky in 5 minutes, it cannot be a satellite. Satellites in low enough orbits are seen to fly over at what looks like about the same speed as a high flying airliner, but of course they are both much higher and much faster than an airliner. Satellites in geostationary orbit do stay in one spot all the time, but they are too high to see without a telescope.

Answer 4

Satellites are generally as bright as the brighter stars in the sky, but their brilliance is not as consistent through the night. Satellites, when moving at the exact speed of the earth's rotation, can be in stationary orbit directly above the earth's equator. So if the light in the sky is towards the equator and seems to stay in place all night, then it's a satellite.

Answer 5

Depending on where it is in the sky, it is likely either Venus or Jupiter. Venus is in the west sky after sunset and Jupiter is visible in the east later in the evening. Saturn is also visible, but would be noticeably dimmer than both Jupiter and Venus. A satellite would be moving noticeable, horizon to horizon in about a few minutes or so usually. It is possible that it is a geosynch satellite, which would appear stationary, but would not be that bright if at all visible to the naked eye unless the sun hit it just right, but that is very unlikely.

if you're in the northern hemisphere, you can try to figure it out by lining up what you see with the constellations on this chart!
http://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn0706.pdf

Answer 6

in basic terms a small proportion of satellites holiday on the comparable speed by way of fact the earth's rotation. those are geostationary satellites, located 22,3 hundred miles above the equator and too distant and faint to make certain with the bare eye. Their objective is principally communications and climate observations. maximum satellites are in low earth orbits, some hundred miles up and those are those which you spot. those contain the Hubble area Telescope and the worldwide area Station. those orbit the earth some thing like 15 cases in keeping with day and are in basic terms seen for a jiffy as they bypass around the sky at any given area. different satellites in low orbits are undercover agent satellites and earth factors satellites, which, for glaring yet differing motives, the two might desire to save an in depth eye on what's taking place on the earth's floor.

Answer 7

Depends on what area of the sky you are looking. In the western sky the planet Venus is very bright. Southern sky has both Jupiter and Saturn. Northern sky has Mars at certain times. Finally the eastern sky has some very bright stars Sirius and Vega. I hope this will help you. Additionally a good way to determine if a celestial light is a star or a planet is that stars "twinkle" because of the way their fluctuating light passes through the Earths atmosphere.

Answer 8

The key is observing how the object moves in relationship to the other stars. If it is a star, it will move together with all the other stars. It will never be closer or farther away from any other star. Anything in orbit around the sun will move independantly in relationship to other stars. Over a certain amount of time it will move from one group of stars into another. This is what astrologers mean when they say "the moon is in virgo". When astronomers begin measuring the movements of the planets precisely, it led to the discovery that the earth was not the center of the solar system. It then led to the discovery of planets like uranus, neptune and pluto, as well as their moons.

Answer 9

It could be 2 things: 1 a satellite 2 UFO or a star

Answer 10

Everything in the sky moves, just at different speeds.

So, if you see something that does not move, it is not in the sky. Maybe you saw a light up on a mountain.

Or, it moves, and you just did not watch it long enough to see the movement. In approximate order of speed, from fastest to slowest, you can see meteors, aircraft, birds, clouds, weather balloons, satellites, the Moon, the Sun, comets, planets, and stars, including galaxies and nebulae.

;-D Maybe you saw a UFO! Wish I hadda seen it!