this might be a very basic thing but i used to see a lot of moving stars in sky in backyard of my house in childhood. they seemed to be strolling away slowly among host of other stars and after sometime used to fade away in the darkness of space.
i always used to be intrigued by them, follow them until they couldn't be seen by my naked eyes and used to wonder if they were shooting stars... untill very late when I came to know about how shooting stars are and how fast they go when i actually saw some ..
anybody seen these moving stars ? could they be satellites?
Please excuse if this is a stupid question tho
moving stars in the sky
Could be satellites. I saw the ISS a couple of months ago doing exactly what you have described across Canis Major constellation. You may install the free stellarium software (http://www.stellarium.org) and activate the Satellites plugin to double check or confirm what you have seen or predict upcoming ones. For smart phones, there are similar apps like Satellite Flybys (http://www.simpleflybys.com).
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Not a stupid question at all!
I'm assuming childhood house was in a less light-polluted part of india?
They probably were satellites or perhaps very high flying planes (really high ones can appear to be slow moving and at night and high altitude sometimes the navigation lights on each wingtip may be perceived as one)
Of course they could be secret missles, UAVs or UFOs *grin*
I'm assuming childhood house was in a less light-polluted part of india?
They probably were satellites or perhaps very high flying planes (really high ones can appear to be slow moving and at night and high altitude sometimes the navigation lights on each wingtip may be perceived as one)
Of course they could be secret missles, UAVs or UFOs *grin*
DON'T PANIC
Hi preeti,
To verify and validate what you might have seen, one needs to find out more information with regards to the local, speed and time in which the star like objects are seen.
If the objects are moving at a relatively steady pace, consistency and speed and that it was observed 1-2 hrs before dawn or 1-2 hours after dusk, then they are most likely to be satellites. The reason for 1-2 hrs are that the solar panels of the satellites still required the sun to be just slightly below the horizon, thus by reflecting the light, it presents itself as a bright dot moving across the night sky.
If the object, whizz across the night sky in a blink of the eye, then it is definitely a meteor. In a dark cloudless night, one could see lots of sporadic meteors in the skies which may not be associated with any major meteor shower. I had the opportunity of seeing these faint meteors back in Rockhampton, Australia. One could easily see alot of them just by lying on their backs. As for SG, you could see meteor showers like Geminids, Leonids, Lyrids, which are still rich and bright enough to be observed under the light polluted skies of Singapore
To verify and validate what you might have seen, one needs to find out more information with regards to the local, speed and time in which the star like objects are seen.
If the objects are moving at a relatively steady pace, consistency and speed and that it was observed 1-2 hrs before dawn or 1-2 hours after dusk, then they are most likely to be satellites. The reason for 1-2 hrs are that the solar panels of the satellites still required the sun to be just slightly below the horizon, thus by reflecting the light, it presents itself as a bright dot moving across the night sky.
If the object, whizz across the night sky in a blink of the eye, then it is definitely a meteor. In a dark cloudless night, one could see lots of sporadic meteors in the skies which may not be associated with any major meteor shower. I had the opportunity of seeing these faint meteors back in Rockhampton, Australia. One could easily see alot of them just by lying on their backs. As for SG, you could see meteor showers like Geminids, Leonids, Lyrids, which are still rich and bright enough to be observed under the light polluted skies of Singapore
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yup..if you don't see any blinking (which means they are passenger aircraft), they are likely satellites or even the ISS! The ISS moves very fast across the sky though. I remember 30 years back when I was in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and pollution was not as bad then, I would lie down on a sun chair and look up nd there will be numerous satellites and meteor. Those were the days when even in Singapore I could see lots of dim stars. sigh....
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Probably Satellites. The ISS is kinda huge so you would probably see 2 lines moving slower than an aircraft yet constant in a straight line across the sky. If it's a plane it would see the main white navigation front bow white light and if not to high, port and starboard lights. But a plane moves faster across the sky.
Satellites would be like a small star moving across the sky like a small bug in a straight flight path...lol! Not so possible in SG skies though on rare clear nights and seeing is good you may catch one or two when they are close by.
Last time I saw the ISS was some months back around 7+pm. 2 Distict lines parallel moving slower than a plane.
But good observation nonetheless. Keep staring...just don't stare to hard!!
Satellites would be like a small star moving across the sky like a small bug in a straight flight path...lol! Not so possible in SG skies though on rare clear nights and seeing is good you may catch one or two when they are close by.
Last time I saw the ISS was some months back around 7+pm. 2 Distict lines parallel moving slower than a plane.
But good observation nonetheless. Keep staring...just don't stare to hard!!
My wife never complained about how much time, effort & money I spent on my Astronomy hobby!................suddenly I met her!!!
yeah they must have been satellites then .. as i saw no blinking and they were like points of lights moving in a straight line .. hence used to go out of sight after a while .. too bad we can't easily spot them in sg
@cloud_cover: yes my childhood house is a far less light polluted city than sg but the situation is getting bad there as well these days with more n more buildings and malls coming up ... I am going there early may so will check out the skies there ..
@cloud_cover: yes my childhood house is a far less light polluted city than sg but the situation is getting bad there as well these days with more n more buildings and malls coming up ... I am going there early may so will check out the skies there ..