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March 31, 2013 at 5:49 am #606968
TML100MemberIf you look southwest of here, at least from Gatewood, you might see something perplexing: at first sight, it looks like a star that is twinkling pretty hardcore, being stationary and all. What is this? Does anybody know? Look outside, see it for yourself and tell me your verdict.
March 31, 2013 at 5:51 am #787181
JanSParticipanthttp://earthsky.org/tonight ? maybe?
March 31, 2013 at 5:55 am #787182
JanSParticipantthere’a also Sirius, the Dog Star
March 31, 2013 at 6:06 am #787183
brewParticipantAppears to be flashing green/red through my binocs. From Gatewood. mid vashon, 30 degrees or so?
March 31, 2013 at 6:15 am #787184
TML100MemberYeah, I’m thinking it’s Sirius. Apparently Sirius twinkles a lot more because it is so bright and so close to the horizon at this time of year. Here’s the article I found explaining it for me: http://www.universetoday.com/92678/why-does-sirius-twinkle/
March 31, 2013 at 6:37 am #787185
JanSParticipantmaybe our resident astronomer, Alice Enevoldsen, will weigh in and tell us if that’s it…
March 31, 2013 at 6:39 pm #787186
ErikParticipantI had my camera with me last night and shot this. It’s a bit shaky because I didn’t have my tripod:
April 1, 2013 at 12:06 am #787187
AliceParticipantTML 100 —
As the “official” West Seattle Astronomer I’m going to say it was Sirius. When I have a few minutes later this evening I’ll do a quick check on the direction of Vashon from Gatewood to confirm.
The super-twinkly effect (it almost looks like it is blinking from color to color like an LED Christmas light, right?) is, as you said, a hallmark of Sirius when it is low in the sky in the winter.
-Alice
April 1, 2013 at 6:31 am #787188
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