Interesting Object in the Sky

[Celeste]

I took this picture in haste with my phone the evening of 6/4/06 at approxiamently 9:15 p.m, while standing on my back patio facing west, just after the sun had set. The object appeared, hovered for less then a minute, and disappeared to the north.



Though it looks like the moon, I checked the lunar cycle for my state, here it is as follows:

U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department
Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah (longitude W111.9, latitude N40.8):

Sunday
4 June 2006 Mountain Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:24 a.m.
Sunrise 5:57 a.m.
Sun transit 1:26 p.m.
Sunset 8:55 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:28 p.m.

MOON
Moonrise 1:02 p.m. on preceding day
Moonset 2:14 a.m.
Moonrise 2:02 p.m.
Moon transit 8:22 p.m.
Moonset 2:33 a.m. on following day


Any thoughts?

[InfiniteNow]

A speck on the lense of your camera perhaps?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Celeste

I took this picture in haste with my phone the evening of 6/4/06 at approxiamently 9:15 p.m, while standing on my back patio facing west, just after the sun had set. The object appeared, hovered for less then a minute, and disappeared to the north.



Though it looks like the moon, I checked the lunar cycle for my state, here it is as follows:

U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department
Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah (longitude W111.9, latitude N40.8):

Sunday
4 June 2006 Mountain Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:24 a.m.
Sunrise 5:57 a.m.
Sun transit 1:26 p.m.
Sunset 8:55 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:28 p.m.

MOON
Moonrise 1:02 p.m. on preceding day
Moonset 2:14 a.m.
Moonrise 2:02 p.m.
Moon transit 8:22 p.m.
Moonset 2:33 a.m. on following day


Any thoughts?

Definately Jupiter; it is currently very close to Earth & therefore much brighter.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...ar_jupiter.htm

[Celeste]

No speck Infinite...I first saw it with my own eyes first.
BTW, I don't really believe in UFO's of the alien type. I am however, always intrigued with what our government might be up to with todays technology.


Thanks Turtle....Anything more recent? Or is Jupiter very close again at this time?

March 3, 2004: Lately Earth and Jupiter have been approaching one another

[Jay-qu]

Hard to tell from the small picture, but jupiter has been putting on quite a show of late - very bright indeed.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Celeste

Thanks Turtle....Anything more recent? Or is Jupiter very close again at this time?

Jupiter is receding, but still very bright. I checked my star software for the date & time given & I have no doubt it is Jupiter. Other than the Sun, only the Moon & Venus are brighter than Jupiter these days in the night sky.

[InfiniteNow]

Confirmed... the high probability of Jupiter anyway...

It's been uber bright recently. We had a full moon a while back and Jupiter was just beside it. Quite the site to see.

[Celeste]

Thanks guys.
I've been missing out on Jupiter's show obviously.
I'll have to watch the skies more closely these next few weeks. What I saw was incredible....so big and brillant, but clearly wasn't the moon. It had a different look, and now I know why.

Sunset a few nights later....this is how I normally see it. I'll be watching for Jupiter about 20 mins later, correct?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Celeste

Thanks guys.
I've been missing out on Jupiter's show obviously.
I'll have to watch the skies more closely these next few weeks. What I saw was incredible....so big and brillant, but clearly wasn't the moon. It had a different look, and now I know why.

Sunset a few nights later....this is how I normally see it. I'll be watching for Jupiter about 20 mins later, correct?

Jupiter rises about 6 PM Utah time tonight & reaches its zenith around 9:30 PM (& no Moon). If you have some binoculars to look at Jupiter with you may see some of its inner moons as well. Keep looking skyward!

[cyclonebuster]

Originally Posted by Celeste

I took this picture in haste with my phone the evening of 6/4/06 at approxiamently 9:15 p.m, while standing on my back patio facing west, just after the sun had set. The object appeared, hovered for less then a minute, and disappeared to the north.



Though it looks like the moon, I checked the lunar cycle for my state, here it is as follows:

U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department
Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah (longitude W111.9, latitude N40.8):

Sunday
4 June 2006 Mountain Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:24 a.m.
Sunrise 5:57 a.m.
Sun transit 1:26 p.m.
Sunset 8:55 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:28 p.m.

MOON
Moonrise 1:02 p.m. on preceding day
Moonset 2:14 a.m.
Moonrise 2:02 p.m.
Moon transit 8:22 p.m.
Moonset 2:33 a.m. on following day


Any thoughts?

SHHHHH!!!! We must censor this in America! SW-3 could throw the world in panic mode!