How do we know if it is a planet?
I saw something in the sky today (25th) and it was really bright like a moon at 5:40-6:30 am in the morning. but then i got a camera and it was green with things around it. It started puffing things up, like explodtions. I was wondering if it was a planet and if you know which planet or if it was just a moon.
2007-11-25 06:09:49 · 5 answers · asked by ♪ღ♥sweetberry♥ღ♫ 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
it wasn't that high. I watched it for an hour.
2007-11-25 09:38:36 · update #1
it did not flash and disappear tho. I'm not sure if it is venus or what, but it was green. I'll try to post my picture up, i caught a video too, but i'm not sure if i can post it tho. h/o
2007-11-25 09:51:02 · update #2
Northwest? I think it was that direction?
2007-11-25 14:30:41 · update #3
I'm not sure is it went west to east or up or down? i wasn't paying attention. maybe west or east or up or down...
2007-11-25 14:35:22 · update #4
i think it did move.......................
2007-11-25 14:36:14 · update #5
it wasn't flashing green. It was a very light color. I had to use a camera to zoom in. It definaltly wasn't an aircraft! It was as big as a moon. Maybe itt was a moon. Aircrafts and moons do not explod things out or puff white things out like explortions!
2007-11-26 06:54:48 · update #6
I have pictures but i might not show them cuz i can't find the thingy to plug it into the computer.
2007-11-26 06:55:58 · update #7
I doubt it was a hot air ballloon. ummm...it was round! I'm thinking it was just a moon cuz it did look exactly like the moon. but green and explosive...if it was a hot air balloon that wouldn't make any sense at all!
2007-11-27 14:44:46 · update #8
I think it must of been the aliens playing tricks again.
2007-11-25 06:17:49 · answer #1 · answered by Jane 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi Sweetberry -
The first thing to know is where the planets are. They generally follow a path that is similar to that taken by the sun as it rises, crosses the sky, then sets. So if what you saw was high in the north, it was not a planet. The only planets that appear green or blue are Neptune and Uranus, and they are not easily seen in binoculars.
If it was changing, flashing, etc then I suspect it was an aircraft that was approaching from a great distance. It also may have been a meteor, if it disappeared after the "explosions."
ADDED:
In which direction did you first see it? Did it move? Which way did it move?
ADDED 2:
If it was in the northwest and it moved perceptibly and it was flashing green, then it was most likely a distant aircraft - could have been a helicopter. But I'm reasonably certain it was not a planet. Planets generally look like bright stars. Venus is especially bright, Mars looks like a reddish star, Jupiter and Saturn look like any other star - until you look at them through good binoculars or a telescope. Uranus and Neptune would not look like what you saw - they are very far away and very faint - you would never have noticed them. Mercury and Pluto are just out of the question. Hope this helps.
ADDED 3:
By the way - a long time ago when I was flying jet aircraft, there were times when I turned on my landing lights in weather or simply at times when folks on the ground were trying to locate my aircraft visually and I was trying to help them. This is not uncommon.
ADDED 4:
Perhaps it was a hot air balloon. This would appear large and round and bright (if it was lighted) and would occasionally experience a flare of light when the heater was applied.
2007-11-25 15:28:05 · answer #2 · answered by Larry454 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People will often tell you planets don't twinkle, but this isn't always the most useful test. At times the atmosphere can be very stable, and nothing twinkles. At other times, the atmosphere is disturbed and everything twinkles.
The definitive test (other than looking through a telescope) is that planets change their location against the background stars. You must observe carefully over several nights to confirm this, though.
At that time of day it was probably Venus. Like the 10,000 other inquiries on the subject...
2007-11-25 15:22:38 · answer #3 · answered by laurahal42 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"How do we know if it is a planet?"
Planets, under even the smallest magnification, resolve themselves into tiny spheres. The stars (with the exception of the sun) remain just points of light under even the biggest telescopes. The inner planets (Mercury and Venus) also tend to go through phases - just like our moon.
2007-11-25 14:52:08 · answer #4 · answered by n2s.astronomy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Post your pictures and we can help you. In the meantime try this free program for sky watching. http://www.stellarium.org/
2007-11-25 14:17:59 · answer #5 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋