I viewed this star at about 11:00 pm PT. my position is 35 deg 26' N 119 deg 1' W. My 100X telescope from my perspective was facing due west and was angled around 50 degrees ( alittle higher in the sky than a 45 deg angle. You can't miss it it is very bright (one of the 2 or 3 brightest in the sky) and changes every few seconds from yellow to red, white and blue. A very beautiful sight to see. Might be Sirius but I've never noticed it until of late. It seems to be stationary( ie I had to adjust the telescope slightly north and lower on the horizon every few seconds to keep it in view like the other stars. It's not an aircraft or a light on top of a radio tower.
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Its most likely Arcturus, Vega and Arcturus are about the same brightness. Arcturus is closer than 45 degrees from the horizon at 11 pm, but Vega is quite a bit farther from the horizon.
It is not either Saturn or Spica they are close to the horizon.
It is not either Saturn or Spica they are close to the horizon.
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any bright star can scintillate and go through the spectrum of colors. It's really pretty to see, and Sirius does it best, and winter skies are sometimes clearer so if you can take the cold to see Sirius do its color thing. you could look up "scintillation" for more on this.
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Arcturus is really bright and up that-a-way...
Um.. If you can see the Big Dipper.. follow the arc of the handle outward in your mind.. does that get you to your star? If so, it's Arcturus in Bootes.
Download this: It's free and it really helps in figuring out what that one light in the sky over there is.
http://stellarium.org
*** Edit.. It could also be Saturn these days. That's my second guess if the "Arc to Arcturus" doesn't hit.
Um.. If you can see the Big Dipper.. follow the arc of the handle outward in your mind.. does that get you to your star? If so, it's Arcturus in Bootes.
Download this: It's free and it really helps in figuring out what that one light in the sky over there is.
http://stellarium.org
*** Edit.. It could also be Saturn these days. That's my second guess if the "Arc to Arcturus" doesn't hit.
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You got it right. My favorite star, Sirius; http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html
When I first saw it as a kid I ran to get my parents because I thought it was a UFO. It's a binary with Sirius A and Sirius B. Lots of ancient legends with this star related to people seeing it throughout history.
When I first saw it as a kid I ran to get my parents because I thought it was a UFO. It's a binary with Sirius A and Sirius B. Lots of ancient legends with this star related to people seeing it throughout history.
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It could be one of those lights they see up in antarctica I guess...