Astronomers, where art thou? On May 6, 2012, around 10:00 P.M., I was photographing the north-western sky (Jupiter and Venus, I presume) and I made the attached photo that contains a...

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

On May 6, 2012, around 10:00 P.M., I was photographing the north-western sky (Jupiter and Venus, I presume) and I made the attached photo that contains a "strange" object between the two planets. Can someone identify it?

I was making a series of photos, increasing the exposure by
1/3 stop on each one. In the first photo, the object is NOT
visible between the two planets. In the second photo (about one minute later and 1/3 stop brighter), the object appears, but in the third photo (after another four minutes and another 1/3 stop exposure increase), the object is gone. I made a couple more photos after that but the object was not there.

These photos have NOT been edited except for cropping.
The tripod was slightly adjusted after the second photo.
Any ideas?

Thanks.

Burton

saycheese Loc: By the Big Lake in West Michigan

I have a good friend who does a lot of astrophotography.Mind if I save then send her your pics?

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

saycheese wrote:

I have a good friend who does a lot of astrophotography.Mind if I save then send her your pics?

Please do, Saycheese! I would be happy to hear what
she has to say.

Thank you.

Burton

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

1) A cloud moved across the frame.
2) it's a undiscovered planet or comet(lol)
3) it's the x37(the new NASA ship)
4) it's a UFO

3Dean Loc: Southern California

It's hard to tell from the image (not enough reference points). If the brightest object is Venus, then the second brightest object is probably the star Capella. Jupiter has already set.
I thought that the mystery object might have been a satellite, but if the image was taken from Huntsville, TN at 10:05 PM, there were none in that area of the sky according to my astronomy program. However, there was an Iridium satellite near that spot at approximately 10:27 PM.

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

3Dean wrote:

It's hard to tell from the image (not enough reference points). If the brightest object is Venus, then the second brightest object is probably the star Capella. Jupiter has already set.
I thought that the mystery object might have been a satellite, but if the image was taken from Huntsville, TN at 10:05 PM, there were none in that area of the sky according to my astronomy program. However, there was an Iridium satellite near that spot at approximately 10:27 PM.

I suppose there are a lot strange "things" to be seen in the night sky if you just look in the right place at the right time.

Thanks for the reply.

Burton

lightandshadowjourney Loc: Virginia

Go to heavensabove.com and see if there was an Iridium Flare around that time. An earlier post seems to point in that direction, as well. They are very, very predictable and a lot of fun to find. Nice pic!

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

lightandshadowjourney wrote:

Go to heavensabove.com and see if there was an Iridium Flare around that time. An earlier post seems to point in that direction, as well. They are very, very predictable and a lot of fun to find. Nice pic!

Hey! Thanks. Checking it out now.

Burton

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

lightandshadowjourney wrote:

Go to heavensabove.com and see if there was an Iridium Flare around that time. An earlier post seems to point in that direction, as well. They are very, very predictable and a lot of fun to find. Nice pic!

Hey! Thanks. Checking it out now.

Burton

BGenie Loc: Sacramento, CA

I can't help you with the UFO in your current photo, but here's some astronomy news for those who are interested:

Annular Solar Eclipse May 20:
http://www.eclipse-maps.com/Eclipse-Maps/Gallery/Pages/Annular_solar_eclipse_of_2012_May_20.html

Also: Transit of Venus between the earth and the sun, June 5-6, visible from anywhere in the USA. It only happens every 105 years. I don't suspect that I'll live an additional 105 years, so I'm not going to miss this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

BGenie wrote:

I can't help you with the UFO in your current phot... (show quote)

Thank you. Note taken.

Burton

MsJ Loc: Northern Indiana

lightandshadowjourney wrote:

Go to heavensabove.com and see if there was an Iridium Flare around that time. An earlier post seems to point in that direction, as well. They are very, very predictable and a lot of fun to find. Nice pic!

Is that a working link? I get the yellow pages ad.

goldy47 Loc: Murrysville Pa.

What was your exposure time on the photos?

lightandshadowjourney Loc: Virginia

MsJ wrote:

lightandshadowjourney wrote:

Go to heavensabove.com and see if there was an Iridium Flare around that time. An earlier post seems to point in that direction, as well. They are very, very predictable and a lot of fun to find. Nice pic!

Is that a working link? I get the yellow pages ad.

Sorry. heavens-above.com. Try that. Lots of satellites listed and the International Space Station for your specific location.