Astronomical Phenomena - What Have You Seen?

[Medusa]

Well, what leads me to post this is my extreme irritation at missing the lunar eclipse last night. The last time it fell on winter solstice was about 400 years ago, and it won't happen again for another 400. I stayed up late but of course it was busy snowing, a foot of snow, which I then got to get up and shovel this morning...made me even happier.
Two things happen to me when astronomical events are happening: either I don't know about them until after the fact (and am irritated over it), or I get all prepared to watch it, and it clouds over (and I'm irritated!).
When I think back, the only things I've actually seen are a couple of "falling stars", and the aurora borealis. I haven't seen the aurora in years, which I used to blame on global warming (LOL), actually it's because the North Pole is moving away from Canada towards Russia...
So what have you all seen? Some of you saw last night's eclipse. I'm jealous...but at least somebody got to see it!

[Hellfire_WZ]

The main ones that stick in my mind are planetary sightings: Mars on its closest approach, the transit of Venus, Jupiter and the four Galilean moons and Saturn's rings. Plus I also saw the solar eclipse back in 1999. Not quite total, but the Sun was very obscured from where I was.

I studied astrophysics at university a few years back so I got to see a fair few of these through some pretty large telescopes. Amazing :)

[mdhay]

I saw Jupiter a few years back. Was magical. :D

[mic-dk]

I too missed the lunar eclipse this time :(

I seem to remember a quite pronounced solar eclipse when I was a boy - start/mid-eighties somewhere. Everyone was equally awed by the eclipse and equally terrified of going blind by looking at it :lol

I've seen plenty of shooting stars, but only once in my life seen the Aurora Borealis. THAT was magic and I need to see it again before I die.

Oh, and on clear nights in winter I can see the milkyway whenever I take the dog walking outside town. That makes you kinda small...

Does seeing a satellite count as an astronomical event?

[IndoorSnowStorm]

Last week I saw the Geminid Meteor Shower, and saw 5 "Sooting Stars". It was the first time I've ever seen one, and it was pretty cool! :g

[MetaKraken]

Even though I already posted about what happened in another thread, I'm pretty sure you guys know what I saw last night (unless you already knew). :P

[Aeroracer]

i saw mars last year.someone pointed it out to me

[DawnFireDragoon]

i too missed the lunar eclipse unfortunately. i love astronomy and usually try to see as much stuff as i can.

i remember watching the solar eclipse here in the Uk back in 1999 (was it?) and that was cool.

the comet Halle Bopp passing by and been visible to the naked eye in 1997 was also really cool.

being on holiday in cornwall, in such a remote place this year, that the line of the milky way was clearly visible across the entire sky every night. Also seeing loads of meteors.

mars closest approach was good.

slightly related: really looking forward to finally seeing what pluto looks like when New Horizons probe gets there in 2015. probably a lump or cratered rock/ice, but still wanna see it!

[blackwiggle]

I see the occasional meteor going west to east through my lounge room window.

I've seen a few Lunar eclipses over the years, also some near total solar ones.

I even managed to see Halley's comet on it's last trip through the solar system in 1986, but it wasn't much of a show last time, just look like an elongated star which was a bit of a let down.
It might look more spectacular when it next comes around in mid 2061, although the chance of me actually being able to see it if I'm still around at age 101 is less probable.

Strange thing is how few people actually look up into the skies at all now days.

[mdhay]

I see the occasional meteor going west to east through my lounge room window...

I really don't want to have seen the insurance claim on that one... :g

[Medusa]

LOL, Martin! Yes, I have seen some lunar eclipses before...but none of them were so special as this one that I missed...also, have seen some meteor showers, I believe it was last year...and have seen Mars...each time is generally far between though.
Since my little town is in the middle of nowhere, it is very easy to stargaze, even though I have little knowledge of the constellations (besides the big/little dipper, north and evening star). I always meant to study up on astronomy, but I have a long list of "I always meant to"s.
I literally cannot wait until I see the aurora again. It's been so long...:( I'll have a better chance to see them once I take a trip north (more north :D ).

[MegaGeeza22]

Strange thing is how few people actually look up into the skies at all now days.
This is so true! when i talk about space people say "you have been smoking that weed, your up in the clouds again":|
Or they just say if god wanted us to fly he would of gave us wings... as they turn over to watch bargain hunt lol. Space is our future!
I have seen a few shooting stars but the best 1 was when 2 shooting stars made a cross in the sky! weirdest thing iv ever seen! Iv never seen the aurora but hopefully i will do oneday! watching the sun interfere with our magnetic field lol

[As Heaven Is Wide]

One of the best memories of my life was about 15 years ago on a camping holiday in Ireland. There was an incredible meteor shower that lasted for an hour or two and it was just me and my dad sitting in the glow from the embers of a barbeque. Must have seen a hundred shooting stars that night.

Kind of annoyed that I missed this, sounded awesome

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11954932

Also for anyone who missed the lunar eclipse there's a tidy video here. (his other vids are worth seeing too)

http://vimeo.com/18046748

[KGB]

i remember watching the solar eclipse here in the Uk back in 1999 (was it?) and that was cool.

the comet Halle Bopp passing by and been visible to the naked eye in 1997 was also really cool.



I remember them too, the solar eclipse was really strange.

The best thing I ever saw was on Ko Samui. A massive meteor shower happened right over head, just as the mushroom omelette was starting to take hold :D.

[SaturnReturn]

I saw the solar eclipse too, but I don't have any particular memories of being wowed by it. I have seen a single shooting star, and that felt very special. Even though it's a less rare occurrence than an eclipse, it's more individual and spontaneous. You can't predict it, and I think that makes it feel more special. It's difficult for me to see anything other than planes in the sky where I live, with all the air traffic and light pollution around London.

I was considering buying a telescope a while ago but never got around to it. I'm not sure I would use it too often, especially without somewhere good to set it up.

[Nutcase:259]

I Remember seeing the solar eclipse about 7 or 8 years ago. with the old cardboard glasses, other than that just the odd shooting star.

if you like that sort of thing you should check out star trail photos,
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2010/10/counterclockwise_but_there_are/Biolumiscence_Star_Trail_sm.jpeg
there isnt a single one of those type of photos that isnt incredible

difficult to do. you need basicly zero artificial light or a massive open space. then about 15 minutes holding the shutter open to take a single photo

[Aeroracer]

i saw the eclipse in 1999 my dad filmed it on camera ..i wonder if he still got it..and wother it came out ok or not.

[MegaGeeza22]

Is it true that there is an eclipse every week somewhere on earth? I would of thought so as the moon passes in front of the sun every week! im confused!:|

[blackwiggle]

A partial one, yes that's true.
A Total one no.
That depends of the distance between the moon and the Earth at any particular time.
It is an irregular regularity.

[Hellfire_WZ]

No, because the Moon does not orbit the Earth along the ecliptic. The paths that the Sun and Moon appear to take across the sky are different, an eclipse only occurs when they intersect.

[Hellfire_WZ]

There's a partial solar eclipse tomorrow morning over Europe and the extremities of western Asia. The best place to see it will be in northern Scandinavia, where about 83% of the Sun will be obscured.

[DawnFireDragoon]

yeah, i'm getting up to see this. about 75% in the UK i think, so it should get slightly darker. The problem is, it happens as the sun is rising, so depending where you are you might not see much, i'm in a city, but live on a massive hill, so might get lucky!

[Hellfire_WZ]

Maximum here should be at around 8:10, so if the clouds hold off we should get a good view :)

[DawnFireDragoon]

well clouds and light snow didn't help me with this one. nevermind. :frown:

[DrMannevond]

I always go outside to watch meteor showers if the sky is clear. Once, after standing outside for two hours with a mate and freezing to death I saw a big one. You could see pieces breaking off, so it was more like a fireball than a shooting star. That was pretty awesome:P
There's also a meteor in the fjord outside my house somewhere. People saw it hit the water, so I have a pretty good idea where it is. I just need to convince the local offshore survey company to go look for it:)

[SaturnReturn]

Are these showers something that occurs frequently? If I watched the skies for a week of clear nights, for say, an hour each night, then how many time would I see a meteor shower?

[WolfKill01]

I don't know about astronomical, but a phenomena occured about a week ago in Arkansas, i beleive. Several flocks of birds fell out of the sky, dead. The same happened to a group of fish in the same area shortly after. pretty sketchy if you ask me.

[DawnFireDragoon]

earlier tonight i was looking at jupiter through some binoculars, it is just to the left of the moon, the brightest looking star in that region. i think the moon may now be below the horizon in the UK tonight though! look for it tomorrow night, where i think it should then appear below the moon!

Saturn, meteors occur all the time, if you spend any good ammount of time looking up on a clear night you'll maybe see one or two. But the main thing with Meteor 'Showers' is that they occur annually and are completely predictible.

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/meteors/

usually you get a couple of days of intense meteor activity where you see many meteors every hour, instead of maybe one or two if you're lucky.

[SaturnReturn]

Cool, thanks for the tip.

[DreamyElf]

I love threads like this, paranormal is my thing as i'm a big X-Files fan^^

I remember seeing a lunar eclipse when i was younger, i think it was back in 1999 or 1998, not sure... lol

[Aeroracer]

i rmember that eclopse dreamy elf..it was around that time..it was really weird

[Hellfire_WZ]

Getting one of these in next month with a solar filter and a camera attachment. Should be able to get some good pictures out here :)

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=slt127&cat=150

[DawnFireDragoon]

nice. you'll have to post some pics when you get some.

[ONlock]

Nice thread. :) Gotta love astronomy.

I'm a hobby astronomer myself, and I have a telescope i try to bring out as much as I can.

But very often I just go out and lie in the snow looking at the Aurora Borealis "Northern Light". There's alot of it where I live, so at least 2-3 times a week you can see it very clearly. It's simply awe-inspiring watching, can't grow tired of it!

I also saw Jupiter earlier, I think it was in December, not far from the moon. Very bright and orange in hue. Didn't get my telescope out for that one though. Not sure I would have seen much anyway. My telescope is pretty small.

[DawnFireDragoon]

i'm jealous you get to see the aurora so often!!!

jupiter is still viewable, just after sunset, it's that bright 'star' in the south west. (6p.m.-7.p.m. gmt probably best time to check for it)

[Medusa]

Sooo, oNlocke, I'll popping in to visit you soon, I hope you don't mind putting me up...;) Yes, I'm jealous too. But that's okay, I could just drive north and do the same thing so I shouldn't be jealous. Still...there's really nothing like it, is there?

[ONlock]

Sure Medusa, I got a spare bunk. :D

There's nothing like it, no. Well, Venus and Jupiter also has the Aurora, but that's a long way to travel. It's especially cool when it really flickers across the sky, it's almost frigthening to watch how fast it goes.

I really should get a proper camera and take some pictures someday. I'll see about that when the pay comes.

[MegaGeeza22]

My telescope is pretty small.
Lol, story of my life.. I have a cheap telescope but im not keen on using it, i live in a built up area and if i was seen peering out the window or standing in the garden with a telescope id have the old bill nocking at my door..
I am fascinated with space but i get jealous of future generations.. were looking and they are going... :mad:

[SaturnReturn]

Have I posted this before? It's the first thing I worked on when I started my engineering job, and it's still the most interesting thing I've worked on.

It'll be the world's largest telescope when built. I think that says it all.
European Extremely Large Telescope on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZEC1XTFA28)

I was helping out to design the thermal control system that maintains the internal temperature within 1 deg. C of the external temperature so that there aren't any optical aberrations due to air density changes when it opens up at night.

[Hellfire_WZ]

You worked on ELT?! :eek

*bows down*

[Medusa]

Yeah, same here! You know, once I stopped wondering why on Earth I haven't heard of that project until NOW! That is just an awesome, incredible project...only seven years and it's complete? (Maybe I can hitchhike to Chile by then...) I had to rewatch that video several times. Wow. You really ought to plaster that everywhere Saturn!!

[Aeroracer]

was the moon part of the earth once and was it created because earth was hit by a huge asteroid in the pacific...

someone told me this was what happened..:nod

[Hellfire_WZ]

It's certainly not without its sceptics, but the Giant Impact Hypothesis is probably the most accepted theory on the formation of the moon. Essentially it involved a large Mars-sized object called Theia colliding with Earth during its formation, blasting a huge amount of material into space. This eventually coalesced into the moon.

The main reason why this theory came about is because the moon is unusually big, it's actually the biggest in the solar system in relation to its parent planet. Normally planets capture small objects into their orbit during formation, but the moon is too massive for Earth to have captured. There's a fair amount of evidence suggesting it was formed from the debris of a massive impact. For example, the minerals on the lunar surface contain almost the same ratio of oxygen isotopes as Earth, suggesting the material originally came from here. There is also evidence to suggest the surface of the moon was once completely molten, a giant impact formation would provide enough energy to do this. Also, despite being about 1/6 the volume of Earth, it is 100 times less dense, meaning it contains an unusually small amount of dense material like iron. This suggests that the iron contained in Theia sank to the core of Earth after impact while the lighter material was blasted into space.

[mdhay]

It's certainly not without its sceptics, but the Giant Impact Hypothesis is probably the most accepted theory on the formation of the moon. Essentially it involved a large Mars-sized object called Theia colliding with Earth during its formation, blasting a huge amount of material into space. This eventually coalesced into the moon.

Obviously this is wrong, the man in it made it out of cheese. :p

[MegaGeeza22]

Here is a documentary about the moon and why we need it and how it was formed!!
Its good stuff and legal to watch
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/bigscreen/tv/episode/b00yb5jp/

[Hellfire_WZ]

Following the acquisition of a new telescope and CCD camera, I've been playing about with some imaging over the last couple of weeks. I've attached some of the images below

Lunar images - various magnifications
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Sun - with a small amount of sunspot activity
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Mars
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Saturn
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Venus
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[infoxicated]

The moon ones are epic! :+

[Colonel]

Wow, you took those pictures?!? Superb Hellfire, really :)

[Dark_Phantom_89]

Wow, those pictures are amazing! Space really fascinates me and I've always wanted to buy a telescope so I could gaze into the wonders of it.

The only thing I've seen with the naked eye is Venus, which was visible a couple of weeks ago in the sky. Apparently Jupiter was as well, but I didn't see that.

[Hellfire_WZ]

It still is in the early evening. Find Venus and look down towards the Sun after it has dipped below the horizon, you'll see another fainter object. That's Jupiter. If you've got a small pair of binoculars you can see four of its largest moons.

Jupiter is too low for me to image at the moment, will have to wait until later in the year. One thing I do want to do though just to see how powerful the scope really is is to try and image Uranus. It's below the horizon at the moment but should be visible again in June.

[DJ Techno]

dont feel bad..

when i was in the 5th grade and the small solar eclipse was happening in 94/95 ( like i said its the fifth grade so im just giving the dates i was in that year.

but when that happend, lol i actually got written up for attempting to look up in the sky to see the aura of the eclipse to happen.

i still laugh at crazy.

im a big fan of astrology. read the books in my library and checked them out over and over like a nerd on crack!

so other then that.. the rest of the years.

I've seen the meteor showers from the last decade and half.
times the planets aligned with each other

a nice picture of venus, jupiter, mars, and pluto in a home telescope and the expensive scopes in places u wish to work.

still venus, being given a name by the romans for the lady of sexyness and more. was a poor choice i say.

but mars does match Ares for sure... Red planet... Blood Red...

[Colonel]

Astrology or astronomy? ;)

[Jav]

Astrology or astronomy? ;)

"So yeah I'm a big fan of astronomy, I like it so much that I call it astrology."

:bat

[docfo4r]

Nice thread, don't know why I didn't saw it earlier :)

I am a huge fan of astronomy and try to catch up with astronomical events as often as I can. Most impressive things I saw until today were the Venus transit in 2005 [or was it 2004?], the total solar eclipse in 1999, the partial solar eclipse in January of the last year [I attached my picture, the sky was kinda cloudy so I could take a picture without any filters :) ] and a few lunar eclipses. Am stoked to see the Venus transit on June 6th but other than that there is nothing special coming up any more as far as I know [for Germany].

I am very interested in astrophotography. I got a Canon EOS 500D and two pretty old telescopes. Recently I am thinking about buying a telescope with GOTO-control since it supports auto-guiding to take long time exposure pictures but I have totally no idea how much money I should spend.
Hellfire, I saw your great pictures on the last side. May I ask you what equipment you used to take those pictures? I was thinking of buying the "Celestron SkyProdigy 90 (http://www.amazon.de/Celestron-SkyProdigy-Goto-Computergesteuertes-Teleskop/dp/B005MXOW7M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335817968&sr=8-2)" or 130 but it's quite expencive. I am afraid I won't get good photographic results if I buy some low-budget telescope, so I am not sure what I should buy...

Anyway, here's a picture of the partial solar eclipse occured on 4th of January 2011 in Germany [standard 18-55mm objective]:
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[Hellfire_WZ]

I'm using a Skywatcher Skymax 127 on a SynScan GOTO Alt/Az mount. The scope and mount set me back about £350, but all the imaging stuff and extra eyepieces ramped the cost up closer to £1000. The images were done with an Opticstar PX-75C CCD video camera. The mount really depends on the type of imaging you want to do. If you're after the sort of stuff I'm doing (lunar, solar, planetary) then the alt/az is fine, but if you want to go for serious deep sky stuff then you'll need an equatorial mount - alt/az has a habit of drifting after about 6-8 mins of tracking.

[docfo4r]

Hmmm I see. Well, I am not so much into this stuff yet, so I think the serious deep sky photography is a future melody as for now. What's more is that my camera still has the IR filter, so I can't really take pictures of any nebulas anyway. The things I like to take pictures of are moon and planets just like you did, and also maybe star clusters like the plejades for example... And maybe the andromeda but I think these are high targets for now. I'd be happy to get a clear & sharp shot of the moon through a scope for now but I want to have the ability to take pictures of star clusters once I get the practice with one and the same telescope.

[Medusa]

Thanks for sharing the lovely photos guys.
I'm happy to say I had the privilege of viewing some beautiful aurora borealis a few times in the last 6 months or so, it was a real treat to catch it in my hometown again. Where you see it from makes a difference, for sure. Warm fuzzy memories, ahhh.
Hmm, my new posts are missing something.
8)

[Hellfire_WZ]

Got a couple to add here. A few days ago, the largest sunspot cluster in years was visible on the Sun's surface - AR1476. It was rated yesterday as having a 20% chance of releasing an X-class solar flare. Didn't in the end thankfully, they're the kind that screw up satellites and communications. Here's a couple of pics I took of it:

6132 6133

If you want an idea of how big that is, it's the size of Neptune

[Dark_Phantom_89]

Amazing pics Hellfire, those sort of things really make you realise just how small we are in the Universe. I really want a telescope now, as it seems like I'm missing out on a lot of good stuff.

[Colonel]

My sentiments exactly DP, can't see myself affording it for ages though. Any recommendations for some slightly cheaper kit Hellfire?

[Hellfire_WZ]

If you're just after a scope, you can get a very decent one for about £100-£150. Have a look on OpticStar (http://www.opticstar.com)

For anyone who can get access to solar observing equipment, there will be a transit of Venus on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning depending on where you are. It will be the last one for over 100 years, so don't miss it!

[docfo4r]

Do you have any suggestions about what I can use as sunlight filter so I can look at the sun throught the scope? I think I am too late to order something from the net...

[Hellfire_WZ]

No, solar filters aren't something that be cobbled together, they have to be done properly. The simplest way to do it would be to buy a sheet of Baader AstroSolar film, but I've only ever seen that online. Failing that, punch a pinhole in a piece of card and use it to project the Sun onto a screen

[docfo4r]

Bad luck, clouds all morning and as soon as the event was over, the sun shone through... :(

[Hellfire_WZ]

Same here... Someone's taking the piss

[Medusa]

We had brilliant, burning full sun, 28 degrees Celsius. I hadn't gotten a hold of the welder's glass so planned to view it with the pinhole projector. Instead, every time I almost had it set up, the little children tried to run into the garden or onto the street or else a big gust of wind would blow things out of place.
Gah. Incredibly frustrating since I didn't get to see it in the end!
To compensate for missing this once in a lifetime event, I stared at the sun long enough for the image of the sun with it's tiny image of Venus to get burned into my eyeball for life.
Kidding, kidding. I'm trying to stop being grouchy about this, since it is my fault for not being prepared well ahead of time, and it always hurts more when it's your own fault. :(

[Jav]

There's not much you can do about clouds. Didn't get to see it. To be expected really in this country. Saw it in '04 though. :)

[docfo4r]

I saw it in '04 as well, at school. Our physics teacher set up a telescope and projected the sun to paper, it was awesome to see it. Well, at least I saw it once in my lifetime with my own eyes :)

Still I'm a little angry about the clouds, always there in the wrong moments. I missed the best parts of the '11 solar eclipse aswell ^^

[MegaGeeza22]

I know its not visible from earth but i thought id let some of you know that Voyager 1 has finally left the solar system!!
I looked on the main stream media but found nothing... its just corrupt banks, wars and killings lol.
So if you didnt know, you do now. Its probably one of humans greatest achievements!

[Hellfire_WZ]

Best image yet. This took the whole weekend to make, a 30-image mosaic of the Moon. Full size it comes in at 18MP. Obviously it's been scaled down by the forum, but if anyone wants the full size image let me know.

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[Nutcase:259]

holy crap, look at the detail! :D i keep getting drawn to the top and bottom poles, im assuming there called poles? lol
theres so much going on at them, all the little craters and ridges. :+

[Hellfire_WZ]

Not one from me this time, but just seen this on Twitter. Absolutely amazing


http://vimeo.com/45878034

[MegaGeeza22]

That is beautiful! our atmosphere is so thin from this perspective and the colours are amazing! it also shows how overpopulated our world is becoming and how small our world really is.
I wish i could be alive in 2000 years, i think mars will look similar when we can afford to warm it up and restore it to its former beauty, but thankfully it wont have billions of people eating away at it lol.

[Ragsus Maxima]

My mind has blown up. :eek
Such beauty... Our planet is truly unique.

[blackwiggle]

I face east, towards Bondi beach, and live in a apartment that's on top on a small hill, so I have unobstructed views of the night skys through my windows.
I have my TV in front of the large lounge room window, and at night usually leave the curtains open so I have a backdrop of the night sky behind and above the TV.

Quite a few times recently I've been sitting watching TV and then suddenly had my vision distracted by either a single or group of meteors flashing through the atmosphere, some with brief, but spectacular flaming tails.
Makes a pleasant relief from a dull night TV viewing :D

[Inversion]

Well, I've seen the Hale-Bopp, Transit of Venus, and I think I saw Haley's when I was younger. I forget.

But I saw a pretty nice meteorite streak a couple of nights back.

[Colonel]

All being well, NASA's Curiosity rover should be landing on the surface of Mars in a few hours time. It really is an amazing feat of engineering, hope it goes without a hitch and we can get some invaluable information from it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19078494

[Hellfire_WZ]

Another one I took last night. I know it probably doesn't look like much, but you see that little blue dot in the image? That's Uranus

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[Colonel]

Cracking Charlie. I recently bought the two BBC series "Wonders of the Universe" and "Wonders of the Solar System", they're awesome. I really want a telescope, I'm getting more and more interested in astronomy.

[docfo4r]

I can't mount my dslr to my telescope proberly yet but I was able to take a [out of focus] picture of the Hercules cluster. In fact I saw it with my own eye(s) the first time yesterday, it was an awesome feeling!

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[Hellfire_WZ]

That's not bad at all considering it wasn't fully in focus! A DSLR is the next thing I need to get hold of, my CCD isn't any good for deep sky objects.

It can however do some pretty good planetary stuff. Here's Jupiter from last night. Unfortunately the Great Red Spot was pointing away when I took this.

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[docfo4r]

Awesome picture! I wish I could go a bit closer to Jupiter but need to buy new eyepieces first.

Yeah that camera mounting thing sucks a little because I have a reflecting telescope and I got all the things I need to proberly mount the camera to the scope but unfortunately I am one of those persons suffering under the problem with DSLR+reflecting scope that you can't get it in focus since the mounting is too long. So I have to go somewhere to get the main mirror lifted up, but I am not sure if I should do that... I'd rather look if there is another solution where my scope doesn't have to become "manipulated".

[Hellfire_WZ]

No new astronomy pictures unfortunately, but the sad news that Sir Patrick Moore passed away yesterday at the age of 89.

[Colonel]

No way! Damn, he was a living legend. RIP.

[onlykpop]

If anyone is interested, on December 13th from dusk till dawn on the 14th at 5pm EST (my time) there will be a meteor shower than can be seen on clear skies. I know I will be watching!

[Colonel]

Seeing as we're getting a near miss from an asteroid this month, check this out, it's an asteroid damage calculator!

http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth/

[docfo4r]

xD nice find!

[blackwiggle]

If what I saw was as simply to describe.
It isn't.
My apartment looks out towards the the EAST, basically for 180 degrees over Sydney Australia
I didn't have a Camera at hand when the event happened, but this video taken elsewhere is pretty much Exactly the same as what appeared when I saw it 3 months ago .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrbm-q85M7A

NO, it was NOT a satellite.
Satellites remain stationary, and are KNOWN objects.