There is a bright blue star I saw tonight. It's quite bright and twinkles way more than all the others. I'm saying where I live so I can best decribe where it is with my limited knowledge of the sky. I live in Gulf Shores, AL. It is in the Southeastern part of the sky. Not way up, but not real close to the horizon either. Not a lot of other stars around it. Even with the din of light from my town, it is quite bright. It also has tinges of red when it twinkles. Does anyone know what I'm seeing? I'm very intrigued.
2007-12-12 15:10:10 · 4 answers · asked by Robert O 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
South east and twinkling sound a lot like Sirius. It is the brightest star in the sky (other than the sun) in apparent brightness. It can be seen twinkling much lower above the horizon than other stars simply because the other stars are too faint to be seen close to the horizon, especially from a city).
If you see it over the water, then the slight thermals rising from the water will increase its twinkling. When on ships, I used to be fascinated by the way it really danced all over the sky (OK, over a few fractions of degrees. which is still quite a bit for a star) just above the horizon.
Sirius, when really twinkling hard, is sometimes mistaken for a UFO (Venus gets mistaken far more often for a UFO)
Mars is brighter (not a star, but a planet) and, because it is near opposition, it is larger than usual. It is still too small for the eye to see it as a disk, but it is big enough that it does not twinkle. Also, it is definitely orange-colored and in the North east part of the sky.
2007-12-12 15:21:37 · answer #1 · answered by Raymond 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You're most likely looking at Sirius. It is in the location you described, at the time you described. It's also the brightest star in the night sky (apparent brightness). Also, because it lies close to the horizon, it often twinkles and appears to change color a lot.
2007-12-12 15:15:13 · answer #2 · answered by kyeri y 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Maybe Mars as it is low in the East after sunset right now. If it is later at night it is possibly Sirius the brightest star in the sky which is more Southeast. It is very bright and easily seen from even urban areas.
2007-12-12 15:18:53 · answer #3 · answered by taotemu 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it could be a planet...
2007-12-12 15:17:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋