Weird!

The Hill Billy · 13-06-2014 2:47pm #1

I am in Bern right now & it is a beautiful sunny & cloud free day. For the past 15 mins I can see what appears to be a star in the sky. Roughly ESE & 40-45 degrees. It has barely moved other than you would see with the moon.

Also, from aircraft flying beneath it it is clearly at a very high altitude & from its rate of movement I doubt that it is a balloon.

Any ideas folks?

shedweller · 13-06-2014 3:24pm

Stellarium says it could be mars. But this early with such bright skies??
Coincidentally the ISS passed you from the west to the east at roughly the same time if my ISS app is anything to go by!

The Hill Billy · 13-06-2014 3:33pm

Cheers for that. I pointed it out to a few people & all were similarly stumped for an explanation.

shedweller · 13-06-2014 3:53pm

Is it still there?

The Hill Billy · 13-06-2014 9:03pm

No. I was keeping an eye on it (while having a beer on a sunny terrace) but around 17:30 it disappeared. I am really, really stumped for an explanation for what I saw.

I've checked heavens-above sky charts & the closest star I can see being close to that position at that time is Regulus. Stumped! I can't think of anything else.

Thanks for taking the time to give it some consideration.

MeteoritesEire · 13-06-2014 11:34pm

sometimes there is no (easy to find) explanation.Me and an ex GF once saw 5 or 6 "stars" on a sunny day in San Francisco directly overhead.They didn't move.We were completely sober

okioffice84 · 14-06-2014 1:40am

MeteoritesEire wrote: »

sometimes there is no (easy to find) explanation.Me and an ex GF once saw 5 or 6 "stars" on a sunny day in San Francisco directly overhead.They didn't move.We were completely sober

Sounds like white/silver helium balloons

MeteoritesEire · 14-06-2014 9:07am

I can't imagine how they would stay so steady for so long but anything is possible I suppose.If they were balloons they were extremely high up to appear so stationary and like points of light

okioffice84 · 14-06-2014 5:36pm

Saw a video of similar in New York. Looked like stars in the daylight but they were actually balloons released miles away in Jersey at a wedding, just very high.

2 stroke · 15-06-2014 6:34pm

Saw something similar once, luckily I had my camera.

2 stroke · 16-06-2014 1:17am

Anyone recognise the stars in the photo? The photo was taken with a slightly long exposure using a cheap tripod, but I took it to confirm to others, what I thought I could see naked eye. I couldn't see anything with the viewfinder, I just pointed the camera and clicked.
It is possible to see some stars (and the ISS) during daylight with the right atmospheric conditions, good eyesight, an open mind and the knowledge of where to look. Don't often get the right conditions in cloudy Ireland though.

ps200306 · 16-06-2014 2:14am

No, it's strictly impossible to see stars in full daylight. You can see planets if you know exactly where to look. By following Venus (and Mercury, though it was obliterated earlier) through twilight and sunrise I was able to see Venus in binoculars for a good 45 minutes after sun-up by keeping track of its position with respect to objects on the ground. But I believe you can see it any time of day under the right conditions.

2 stroke · 17-06-2014 9:56pm

ps200306 wrote: »

No, it's strictly impossible to see stars in full daylight.

What is your definition of full daylight?
Pictured are Alpha and Beta Centauri, third and tenth brightest stars in the sky. Also some of the stars that make up the Southern Cross.
Photo was taken third week of march, about an hour after sunrise, approx 60 miles north of Sydney, with a 24x zoom. The night before it had rained heavily.
I was still sort of on Irish time and had been skywatching from about 4 am, walked down to the beach and photographed the rising sun. Walked back to the campground and was surprised to still see some points of light in the sky. Others with me couldn't see them, so I set up the camera and pointed it at what I was convinced was the Southern Cross, based on the fact that I knew its alignment to the camper over the previous few hours. What I actualy saw naked eye was probably A & B Centauri.
This is the best photo of a number taken with different settings, new camera and I hadn't the time or date set properly. I presumed this was an everyday thing, and I was up early for the next 5 days but was denied a repeat daytime viewing.

ps200306 · 18-06-2014 2:26am

Hi 2Stroke, did you mean to attach a picture? Anyway, sounds interesting. Obviously you'd expect to get stuff with the camera that you couldn't see with the naked eye, but it sounds like you could actually see stars after sun up unaided. It's a new one on me ... must dig around for info.

The Hill Billy · 18-06-2014 7:50am

See post #10 for the image.

2 stroke · 18-06-2014 9:58am

ps200306 wrote: »

Hi 2Stroke, did you mean to attach a picture? Anyway, sounds interesting. Obviously you'd expect to get stuff with the camera that you couldn't see with the naked eye, but it sounds like you could actually see stars after sun up unaided. It's a new one on me ... must dig around for info.

As Billy says, see post 10. What I saw unaided was more like imperfections in the sky, about where I knew the southern cross was located. I have found a few reports online of sightings of some of the brightest stars in daylight, in the right conditions. No reports from Ireland though, we're lucky to see them a few nights of the year.
Also, people don't look up enough, and they don't report everything they do see. A couple of evenings ago, I was helping a friend with his car. Comeing out from under the car, a very bright cigar shaped object was obvious in the sky, I said wtf is that. He replied, "O, you can see it too, I thought I was imagining it". Nothing exciting though, FR24 confirmed that it was a plane reflecting the setting sun, c5000 feet.

Akrasia · 19-06-2014 9:02am

2 stroke wrote: »

As Billy says, see post 10. What I saw unaided was more like imperfections in the sky, about where I knew the southern cross was located. I have found a few reports online of sightings of some of the brightest stars in daylight, in the right conditions. No reports from Ireland though, we're lucky to see them a few nights of the year.
Also, people don't look up enough, and they don't report everything they do see. A couple of evenings ago, I was helping a friend with his car. Comeing out from under the car, a very bright cigar shaped object was obvious in the sky, I said wtf is that. He replied, "O, you can see it too, I thought I was imagining it". Nothing exciting though, FR24 confirmed that it was a plane reflecting the setting sun, c5000 feet.

That's what they want you to think

Weird!

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