Astronomers and Astronauts of Boards

Ninthlife

Im sitting out my back garden, having a beer and im looking at a really bright star which I assume is Mars or Venus or Australia..

Either way every few seconds what looks like camera flashes occur around this star....

Is this a natural phenomena?

Am I going to be abducted by aliens?

Am I one beer past too many?

Boardsies unite to solve the mystery in the sky

Could it be the Space station on it's rounds?

Or an ice-cream van?

Ninthlife

Candie wrote: »

Could it be the Space station on it's rounds?

Or an ice-cream van?

Its not moving..plus the flashes are at different locations and sizes/intensity

Not sure about an ice cream van but now i want a 99

TheValeyard

Probably the ISS or Musks space junk thing.

Ninthlife

TheValeyard wrote: »

Probably the ISS or Musks space junk thing.

What are the random flashes..

I think youre a government agent trying to silence the truth with your logic

Leg End Reject

I'm not saying it's aliens, but it definitely is.

Start clenching.

aziz

Just swamp gas,nothing to see

Reflection off the sun from a rotating vehicle in the thermosphere perhaps? Or it could be a moody planet casting a shadow of doubt into my ability to make rational decisions.

Ninthlife

Leg End Reject wrote: »

I'm not saying it's aliens, but it definitely is.

Start clenching.

I knew it...they better probe me good..i mean oh no

Quantum Erasure

Say cheese...

AdrianBalboa

It's probably a plane.

Ninthlife

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Reflection off the sun from a rotating vehicle in the thermosphere perhaps? Or it could be a moody planet casting a shadow of doubt into my ability to make rational decisions.

Uh huh...so youre saying youve no idea either

Ninthlife

AdrianBalboa wrote: »

It's probably a plane.

Aint no plane...im slightly drunk not fall down pissed

Isn't it interesting that when aliens abduct humans, they don't probe our brains or interpret our thoughts or attach electrodes to our temples to see if the lights are on in the attic when they get us onboard the mothership.

Nope, they decide to go straight to the source of all human experience and wisdom and check up our butts.

Ninthlife

Ninthlife wrote: »

Uh huh...so youre saying youve no idea either

Neptune is up Uranus, Jupiter the platonic third party looking on. Therefore you will find happiness followed by sadness followed by more happiness.

JohnnyFlash

I think most of the experts around here these days are tied up with the Covid-19 issue, the bomb yesterday, and how to run an economy.

Leg End Reject

Candie wrote: »

Isn't it interesting that when aliens abduct humans, they don't probe our brains or interpret our thoughts or attach electrodes to our temples to see if the lights are on in the attic when they get us onboard the mothership.

Nope, they decide to go straight to the source of all human experience and wisdom and check up our butts.

It's probably because an alarming number of people talk through their arse.

Not me though, obviously ...

Ninthlife

Candie wrote: »

Isn't it interesting that when aliens abduct humans, they don't probe our brains or interpret our thoughts or attach electrodes to our temples to see if the lights are on in the attic when they get us onboard the mothership.

Nope, they decide to go straight to the source of all human experience and wisdom and check up our butts.

Well most peoples heads are up their arses so thats maybe why

Ninthlife

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Neptune is up Uranus, Jupiter the platonic third party looking on. Therefore you will find happiness followed by sadness followed by more happiness.

Thats poetic but f all help Bertie

Ninthlife

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I think most of the experts around here these days are tied up with the Covid-19 issue, the bomb yesterday, and how to run an economy.

Damn real life issues..who wabta those

Strumms

If it’s aliens, aliens LOVE ice cream... tell them they can have all your ice cream if they promise to feck off with themselves back to wherever...aliens , love ice cream.

Ninthlife

Strumms wrote: »

If it’s aliens, aliens LOVE ice cream... tell them they can have all your ice cream if they promise to feck off with themselves back to wherever...aliens , love ice cream.

You know this because??

Are you an alien? Was that a selfie

Yester

Make a note of the flashes. It could be Morse Code.

Strumms

Ninthlife wrote: »

You know this because??

Are you an alien? Was that a selfie

Eye, it was.

TheValeyard

Ninthlife wrote: »

What are the random flashes..

I think youre a government agent trying to silence the truth with your logic

You've said too much. The Men in Black will be around shortly.

Capt'n Midnight

Top Tip

As any pilot will tell you if you see a stationary light it means you are heading straight for each other, time to start turning.

Yester

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Top Tip

As any pilot will tell you if you see a stationary light it means you are heading straight for each other, time to start turning.

You go left, I'll go right.

Iridium flares?

M.T. Cranium

I'll attempt a serious answer ... this is a rare time when all four of the brightest planets can be seen at various times and if you happen to be up around 0200h, all four at the same time.

The original poster's question was at 2330h which leads me to believe he was looking at Jupiter (perhaps he can confirm he was looking approximately due south and fairly low in the sky). Jupiter is very bright and looks like Venus only it appears in parts of the sky that Venus never reaches because of its orbit (it is rarely more than three hours in front of or behind the Sun in terms of when it rises or sets). So in fact Venus now is a morning star that rises about 0200h and is very prominent in the east by 0230 or certainly 0300h. By then, Jupiter and Saturn are setting in the southwest. And between them is Mars, much redder in appearance than the others, and also very bright these nights, since we are about to pass by it and it happens to be closer to the Sun than most years.

As to the flashing lights, the original poster said "near" the bright planet not the planet itself, so I assume what he may be seeing there would be something much closer to the earth and man-made. He thinks it wasn't a plane (or planes) so possibly drones, or helicopters. The ISS tends to pass over with a steady and quite bright point of light that isn't too much different in appearance from Jupiter or Venus at its brightest, but a tell-tale sign is that it will get somewhat brighter for a time then start to get dimmer (as its lighting points more away from the ground observer).

The ISS is much brighter than other satellites but those too can sometimes be seen, as points of light about like background stars, but moving quite rapidly and often north-south since many of them are in polar orbits. Satellites can be distinguished from planes by their unchanging appearance (planes have navigation lights that are flashing so you tend to see alternating colours), and also they often seem to be going a bit faster than planes -- also you will never hear any sound emanating from them whereas planes will be heard after a time (the sound will seem to be coming from behind the point of the visible object due to the speed of sound and distance, a plane at 7 miles lateral distance and 4 miles up could be 8 miles from you meaning that the sound it makes will take about 40 seconds to reach you. The light of course only takes a tiny fraction of a second.

M.T. Cranium

I could add to that, some stars (notably Sirius which is not visible this month therefore cannot be the cause) twinkle more noticeably than others and are said to be flashing in different colours by some observers. I think the bright star Antares which is leading Jupiter by about an hour and a half across the sky these recent nights has some tendency to twinkle like that, not quite a steady light as you would observe with most other stars. So it may have been that star, if the OP recalls that the star was medium bright and somewhat red in appearance that might be the answer. If you find Jupiter around 11 p.m. then Antares will be off to its right and a little west of due south, fairly low in the sky.

Ninthlife

MT thanks for the comprehensive and detailed reply.

I will try be more serious and clear in my reply.

I was looking South Easterly direction. The star/planet i was focusing on was not red but was more prominent in the sky

The flashes werent like those on a plane or satellites. These were larger pulses, similar to a bulb on a camera flash but not as intense. They didnt change direction or move further away. There was no timing either to them just random

Quantum Erasure

Chinese lantern?

Ninthlife

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

Chinese lantern?

No..this was in space, i am certain of that based on stars etc around it

They didnt twinkle it was a flash or pulse

Pherekydes

Candie wrote: »

Isn't it interesting that when aliens abduct humans, they don't probe our brains or interpret our thoughts or attach electrodes to our temples to see if the lights are on in the attic when they get us onboard the mothership.

Nope, they decide to go straight to the source of all human experience and wisdom and check up our butts.

And you know this how?

Ninthlife

Pherekydes wrote: »

And you know this how?

They obviously are either

(A ) an abductee

Or

(B ) an alien