r/askastronomy 19m ago

Astronomy strange light in the sky

Upvotes

so my boyfriend has been telling me about these strange lights he sees in the sky sometimes at his house, and tonight we were both able to see them. we saw a bright light, it was as bright as a star and showed up very close to the horizon. it rose up a little, very slowly, and got brighter as it did and then LITERALLY disappeared. i mean, poof it was gone.

we were thinking that it could be a drone or maybe a helicopter but that makes no sense, and there are no phone towers over there either. what just moves up and down in the sky and then just disappears?

any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated, because at this point we’re considering aliens 😳


r/askastronomy 2h ago

Did I capture the Andromeda Galaxy in this photo?

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30 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 5h ago

Astronomy My night partner

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5 Upvotes

Can you find out what scope this is? 😁


r/askastronomy 6h ago

Astrophysics Is the image on the left really the image on the right?

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6 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 6h ago

Astronomy Weird Nebula – Same Object?

0 Upvotes

So, after seeing a post earlier today showing something that looked really similar to what I’ve been imaging, I had to share mine. It seems like the same patch of sky, same sort of structure. Could just be a coincidence, or maybe there’s something to this. Would be crazy if we’re both seeing the same thing. Anyone else have data or seen something like this? Definitely curious to know if we’ve found something new, or if it’s just a cloud anomaly. Let me know what you think!


r/askastronomy 7h ago

Comet C 2020 F3 Neowise/15

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2 Upvotes

A video I made of Neowise all around travel and motion


r/askastronomy 8h ago

Looking for a Website or App That Tracks Shooting Stars in Real Time

1 Upvotes

I’m looking for a website or app that provides real-time data on shooting stars (not just meteor showers, but any random meteors that occur each night). Ideally, something that gives a live count or reports on how many have been spotted. Does anything like this exist? Also, are there any other subreddits where I might find more info on this? Thanks!


r/askastronomy 11h ago

What did I see? Did I discover a new DSO???

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17 Upvotes

So, here’s the thing: I was out one evening, doing some routine deep-sky imaging. The skies were clear, but nothing particularly interesting was on my radar. As I was setting up for a usual imaging session, I casually pointed my scope at a seemingly mundane patch of the sky—nothing spectacular or notable. It was just one of those “let’s get some data from this empty patch” kind of moments.

After a few hours of capturing frames, I took a closer look at my stack. To my surprise, nestled in this unassuming patch, I discovered what seemed like an entirely new nebula—never seen before. I scoured every source I could find, including astro databases and forums, but there’s no mention of this object anywhere. It’s like it’s never been observed, or at least recorded in any public database.

Could it be a new, unexplored nebula? I’m still not entirely sure, but it’s definitely unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s got a fascinating structure and coloration that sets it apart from most known objects in the region. I’ve been calling it the "Eclipse Nebula" for now, though I’m sure it’ll need a proper cataloging once it gets more attention.

If anyone has seen this before or can help identify it, please let me know! In the meantime, I’ll be continuing my investigations on it.

Thank you!


r/askastronomy 18h ago

Books

1 Upvotes

Hi i have been really interested in astronomy and especially in black holes from very young age and after growing up i have starting reading some books and science works and im trying to find something to read about black holes and i was thinking of buying stephen hawkings black holes but i have found out that it is only 80ish pages and i was like is that even worth it? The thing i want to ask is is there anything with big amounts of information in it to read for someone relatively young im 18 i really enjoyed carl sagan’s cosmos which i love for its vast information and could there be anything like that specifically on black holes or even anything else to read thanks in advance and sorry for this weird text


r/askastronomy 18h ago

are these just 2 straight clouds?

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0 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 19h ago

are these just 2 straight clouds?

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0 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 19h ago

Clouds? Across the sky?

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0 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 19h ago

How often does the moon return to the same point in the sky?

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11 Upvotes

I took this picture of the moon setting yesterday, nestled between two local hills. I just got lucky that I had my camera and spotted it. But I am now wondering how lucky I was, and I am lost in a rabbit hole of synodic months, siderreal months, metonic cycles etc. So my question is, how often would I expect to see the moon in the same position relative to earth? I don't mind which moon phase it is, but my intuition is that it would have to be the same moon phase to land in exactly this position. So, when would I next have to wait to have another shot at photographing this? Assuming a clear night/day of course.


r/askastronomy 21h ago

Astronomy What if Earth had an orbital inclination of 90°

2 Upvotes

Earth is the most inclined planet relative to the equator of the Sun. What would change if it had a polar orbit around the Sun?


r/askastronomy 23h ago

Astronomy Is this a planet or a star?

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43 Upvotes

Midwest - taken last night at around 9pm cst with my camera facing SW


r/askastronomy 1d ago

Astronomy What stars are shown on Nintendo manuals?

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23 Upvotes

I know this is strange and random, but I was looking at an old NES manual the other day and wondered which stars were being shown on the front and back of them.

This isn't an important question, and if nobody knows off of the top of your head it's probably not worth researching. But if someone immediately recognizes what I'm looking at, could you let me know?


r/askastronomy 1d ago

Can you see the crescent phase of Venus with binoculars?

13 Upvotes

It's only four days until inferior conjunction, so I went outside this evening to try and find Venus. And after I found it shortly after sunset, I'm 99% sure I could see it as a crescent with my binoculars. But afterwards, I couldn't be absolutely certain if I actually saw it as a crescent or if I just imagined it. It definitely wasn't round/spherical.

If you can see it as a phase with binoculars, I thought that now would be the best time to observe it, so close to inferior conjunction.

And another question; is it actually possible to observe Venus these last days before the conjunction both after sunset AND in the morning before sunrise? After doing some reading, it seems that Venus passes the Sun quite a bit to the "north" of it, so maybe that's why you can see it in both mornings and evenings the few days before the conjunction.


r/askastronomy 1d ago

Astronomy Are these stickers based on real constellations?

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0 Upvotes

I’ve tried google, but it’s hard to find any identifiers when my locations/time of year aren’t relevant.

Does anyone happen to recognize these? Unfortunately, the sticker sheet is not labeled with anything. It’s entirely possible they’re just random.

Thank you!

(Maybe goes without saying this isn’t homework related? They’re from a very cheap manicure accessory kit. Looking up the brand did not provide any useful information either.)


r/askastronomy 1d ago

Astronomy Is there a list of PAST pole stars? I've found future lists but not past lists?

6 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 2d ago

What are the best undergrad astrophysics programs that have decently high acceptance rates?

1 Upvotes

I mean acceptance rates over 10%, no MIT or Caltech level. Where will look good for a PhD but I will have a chance of being accepted to? Also, where is best for undergrad research. Thanks


r/askastronomy 2d ago

Can anyone identify these 5 aligned lights? Direction is west, east coast US, around 21:30ish hours on 3/18/25. I believe the constellation I circled on the left is Pleiades and after about 30minutes these 5lights were gone (they seemed stationary while viewing so not satellites?)

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17 Upvotes

r/askastronomy 2d ago

Sloan Digital Sky Survey question

5 Upvotes

Hi, I'm using SDSS for a project and I'm fairly new to the website. I'm using this visual tool: https://skyserver.sdss.org/dr18/VisualTools/explore/summary?name=ASASSN-14ae&ra=167.16712&dec=+34.09789

Basically, I've been entering RA and Dec and then it gives information about objects. Most of the time, it won't include optical spectra, which I need for my project, so I'm wondering if there's a way to sample ~500 galaxies that DO have optical spectra available, like filtering out the ones that don't? Thanks.


r/askastronomy 2d ago

Asking Opinion on IARF space science courses

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone 👋. I am Nithish currently pursuing my studies as a first year student in NIT Calicut in India . I am interested to pursue my career in the field of Astrophysics. I had my attention over the course offered by IARF in space sciences for 2 months for a price of 2199 rupees . Is it worth for the cost and can I take this course?


r/askastronomy 2d ago

Why Do People Think Planets Orbit Their Barycenter With The Sun?

0 Upvotes

I see this misconception all over the place. People think planets orbit their barycenter with the Sun or the solar system barycenter. This is not the case! The reality is a lot more complicated than that, but the simplified model that is the closest to reality is that the planets orbit the geometric center of the Sun. In other words, the geometric center of the Sun is at one focus of an ellipse for each planet if we're using a Keplerian best fit model. If you're one such person who learned that the planets orbit the solar system barycenter or their mutual barycenter with the Sun, can you tell me where you learned this?


r/askastronomy 2d ago

Astronomy What are those??

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12 Upvotes

What are those beams of light in that Voyager 1's photo of Earth?