All afternoon I have been thinking about the comet and the more I thought about it the more I was convinced that was not it that David and I saw on Tuesday night. Tonight I pulled up a sky map showing the location of the comet and it was not where we saw the "thing" in the sky the other night. The odd thing was.... As soon as I walked outside it caught my eye because it was so big and bright. I had thought the comet had faded and was no longer visible to the naked eye. This object was straight up in the sky, a little more toward the west. By the time we went to the laundry room to get the clothes and back out it appeared to have moved straight up and was fuzzier than before. It was then that I got the binoculars and we looked at it. David said he could see it moving and I told him he was crazy, you can't see a comet moving! Well technically you can but over a period of nights, not while you are looking at it. Later when I went out to look again it was right in the middle of Cassiopeia and was continuing to move eastward. By that time it was really faded and more difficult to see. I kept saying it was strange to be moving but when we looked at it thru the binoculars it certainly appeared to be a comet... Bright at the head and had a tail shooting behind it and bending toward the right (east). I went out again later and couldn't see it at all. Now I know why! It was not the comet at all. Here is what I discovered after searching online for some answers tonight.
http://www.sun-herald.com/breakingnews.cfm?id=4129
Fuzzy object spotted in night sky here(Last updated: December 11, 2007 9:44 AM)
It wasn't a plane. It wasn't a bird. It certainly wasn't Superman (or even Tim Tebow).
But something was there in the early evening night sky over our area Monday night. It was far bigger than a star, fuzzy like a comet, seemingly moving only with the slow rotation of the earth.
Many assumed - incorrectly - that it was Comet 17P/Holmes, now causing a stir among those who enjoy sitting in the backyard at night and aiming telescopes at distant space objects. But it wasn't Holmes. It wasn't a comet at all.
The authoritative Web site Spaceweather.com provided the answer this morning for thousands of people from Florida to New England who spotted the fuzzy ball in the northeast sky. It was a fuel dump.
According to Spaceweather.com, "This cloud mimicking Comet 17P/Holmes is fuel dumped from the upper stage of an Atlas rocket that launched a classified satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office on Dec. 10th. The event created a splendid display for about 50 minutes and then faded into the night."
That's just about how long the fuzzy light in the sky lasted here.
EXTRA: See the fuel dump on video captured by Kevin Fetter of Ontario, Canada.
So that solves the mystery! Be sure to watch the video here to see what it looked like to us. Tonight I was able to spot the comet... In the correct location but only with the binoculars and it is very faint. We have been watching it for a month or more and have seen it on numerous occasions that is why the object we saw the other night has been bothering me to the point I had to search for what it may have been. It didn't look the same and was not in the correct location. Now we know why.
http://www.sun-herald.com/breakingnews.cfm?id=4129
Fuzzy object spotted in night sky here(Last updated: December 11, 2007 9:44 AM)
It wasn't a plane. It wasn't a bird. It certainly wasn't Superman (or even Tim Tebow).
But something was there in the early evening night sky over our area Monday night. It was far bigger than a star, fuzzy like a comet, seemingly moving only with the slow rotation of the earth.
Many assumed - incorrectly - that it was Comet 17P/Holmes, now causing a stir among those who enjoy sitting in the backyard at night and aiming telescopes at distant space objects. But it wasn't Holmes. It wasn't a comet at all.
The authoritative Web site Spaceweather.com provided the answer this morning for thousands of people from Florida to New England who spotted the fuzzy ball in the northeast sky. It was a fuel dump.
According to Spaceweather.com, "This cloud mimicking Comet 17P/Holmes is fuel dumped from the upper stage of an Atlas rocket that launched a classified satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office on Dec. 10th. The event created a splendid display for about 50 minutes and then faded into the night."
That's just about how long the fuzzy light in the sky lasted here.
EXTRA: See the fuel dump on video captured by Kevin Fetter of Ontario, Canada.
So that solves the mystery! Be sure to watch the video here to see what it looked like to us. Tonight I was able to spot the comet... In the correct location but only with the binoculars and it is very faint. We have been watching it for a month or more and have seen it on numerous occasions that is why the object we saw the other night has been bothering me to the point I had to search for what it may have been. It didn't look the same and was not in the correct location. Now we know why.
