Did anybody see a star explore on Friday 24 July 2009, in Perseus near Mirphak star? A Black hole?
Just happening to look out my bedroom window on 24/7/9 at about 23:30 BST (GMT+1), I saw a star suddenly flare up, and glow extremely brightly for about 4 or 5 seconds. Then, it slowly cooled down over the next 2 or 3 seconds, at which point 2 bright objects projected from the cooling star, one shot left, the other right. Both looked exactly like stars and they were moved in opposite directions to each other. I was amazed. The speed of the moving star on the right, was a bit faster than the one on the left. I tried to track both. At first, I could maintain both in my sight. Then, I just concentrated on the right hand side one. About 10-15 seconds later, I lost both. The stars’ brightness seem to diminish slightly, then either due to haze (or my eyesight!) I struggled to see it. It was an amazing sight. I presumed initially, that perhaps a star had exploded. I returned my sight to where the explosion was, but the same star was still there. Perhaps a smaller unseen star then maybe? The incident was in the centre of Perseus constellation, around the Mirphak star. Now, given that there’s black holes in that region, I’m half thinking I’ve seen a black hole swallow a star, and the 2 projectiles were the remnants.
Any comments, responses much appreciated. Anyone with any video?
IMHO, You witnessed a satellite flare. A satellite flare occurs when sunlight glints of the solar collector or body of an orbiting satellite. The flare can be quite bright and appear to be coming from a star. You can read about satellite flares on www.heavens-above.com
I doubt it was a supernova. With as many amateurs and professionals scanning the skies at night. I don’t think and even like that would go unnoticed.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:02 am
A star-sized body cannot cool in a few seconds.
Supernovae are bright for weeks.
I think it’s unlikely that what you saw has anything to do with stars. It may have been a meteor breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
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January 1st, 2010 at 5:13 am
Astronomical events such as supernovae or a star falling into a black hole happen much too slowly to be what you saw. More likely you saw a meteor or falling space junk.
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January 1st, 2010 at 5:43 am
It sounds to me like a meteor, traveling along your line-of-sight, exploded when hitting the upper atmosphere. That would explain a flash and debris flying off to the sides. It doesn’t sound like anything a star or black hole could be involved in.
Sometimes, if you happen to be looking in the right place at the right time, you’ll see what looks like a star suddenly brighten, then over a few seconds will peak, then fade away. This is an "Iridium Flare", caused by the solar panels of a particular type of satellite reflecting the Sun as it rotates in it’s orbit. If not for the two "stars" you saw afterward, I’d say that’s what it was.
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January 1st, 2010 at 6:06 am
No I didnt see it I was trying to save mankind by answering yahoo questions at the time.
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January 1st, 2010 at 6:50 am
IMHO, You witnessed a satellite flare. A satellite flare occurs when sunlight glints of the solar collector or body of an orbiting satellite. The flare can be quite bright and appear to be coming from a star. You can read about satellite flares on http://www.heavens-above.com
I doubt it was a supernova. With as many amateurs and professionals scanning the skies at night. I don’t think and even like that would go unnoticed.
References :
http://www.heavens-above.com