Questions tagged [identify-this-object]

Questions regarding requests to identify the described object in a photo.

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9 votes
1 answer
868 views

Identify T-shaped constellation

What is this T-shaped constellation? Never seen it before and it’s not on the map. The photo is made from south-west London facing west at 23-15 on 25.02.2023.
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3 votes
1 answer
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Are these images of the same nebula?

This image from the Spitzer telescope is supposedly of the Orion nebula. But this image from the Chandra telescope also claims to be of the Orion nebula. I have been unable to confirm either of these ...
5 votes
1 answer
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What are these bumps on Europa?

The surface of Europa is famous for all the criss-cross lines thought to be cracks in the ice above a water ocean that somehow re-freeze. But in the photo below I also see a lot of raised "bumps&...
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2 votes
1 answer
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How do I identify a star in general?

I recently asked quite a few identify-this-object questions, and I think maybe this post can serve as a canonical for how to find a star in general? Note that the pictures that you want to find the ...
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4 votes
1 answer
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What is this yellow star?

In NASAs's August 26 2022 photo of NGC 1156: Does anyone know what the incredibly bright yellow star is on the middle right? Bonus: What's the bright (less bright than the yellow one) blue yellow ...
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11 votes
1 answer
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What is the bright orange star?

After reading this NASA article on Tarantula's Nebula of this image: What is the really bright orange star in the center or upper-left of the young blue stars? The second link further provides ...
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5 votes
1 answer
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What are the blue "stars"?

From NASA September 16 Hubble studies a spectacular spiral: There are 4 really bright blue stars in this photo of galaxy NGC 1961. For those who can't see them very clearly, you can focus on the ...
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8 votes
1 answer
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What is this bright blue object taken by the Webb telescope?

From NASA - New Webb Image captures clearest view of Neptune's rings in decades: Does anyone know what the bright blue on the left top corner of the picture is? It is a reflection of sorts or is it a ...
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4 votes
1 answer
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What is the story behind this supposedly incredibly detailed image of the disk of Proxima Centauri attributed to the JWST?

Etienne Klein (@EtienneKlein)'s twitter account labels them as: Directeur de recherche @CEA_Officiel, producteur de « Science en questions » sur @franceculture, publie « L’esprit du corps » and ...
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12 votes
1 answer
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What was the large green yellow thing streaking across the sky?

I just saw a large green yellow streak cross the sky. It looked like a shooting star but way bigger. It seemed closer too. I’m in North Garden VA. It was heading north. It lasted for 5-7 seconds.
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7 votes
0 answers
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Using tail-fit Gaussian distribution to compensate for saturated sensors

Main Question I have a project goal, where I have an image of light sources (stars or lamps doesn't matter). The image is split up into channels for each expected band of 'color'. There are occasional ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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Which three telescopes are these atop a mountain in Hawaii as seen on CNN? Is this webcam view available to the public?

CNN's new video Alaska reached temperatures warmer than California in December includes file footage from a webcam from the top of a mountain in Hawaii showing three observatories. Annotation at the ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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Which studies prior to 2018 "claimed to find evidence of extragalactic planets in the Andromeda galaxy"? Which instrument was used?

After the first round of popular news items about the "first extragalactic exoplanet" discovery, CNET's Did astronomers find the first planet outside of the Milky Way? It's complicated ...
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5 votes
1 answer
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How was the recently publicized Hubble image of a distant galaxy showing clearly resolved lensed in an Einstein ring produced? When was it produced?

The 24-Sep-2021 NASA Goddard video Einstein Ring Spotted by Hubble and it's Goddard Media Studio's page Einstein Ring Spotted By Hubble discuss the image, but don't really give credit to how it was ...
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9 votes
1 answer
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Can you tell me which star this is?

Back-story: My daughter, age 2, looked up in the Ohio sky (we have very poor star-viewing compared to Arizona) and pointed at a light. She said "what is that". I said "that is a star, ...
2 votes
1 answer
60 views

What is in this soft x-ray image?

I've been exploring this new ESA tool and I came across this structure. What is it? The circles look like they might be the footprint of a telescope. Perhaps there was a survey of this specific ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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Are these Jupiter's moons?

Sorry for the huge picture), anyway, as you can see, there are 2 specks of light on either side of the upper planet which is likely Jupiter as the lower one is clearly Saturn-shaped. I was going ...
1 vote
1 answer
495 views

Query with Gaia: I have a list of 1000+ source_id's. How do I find the associated stars and their data?

I have a table of around 1700 source id's from gaiadr2 (in csv format). I would like to see the data that Gaia has for each star in a new table. I'm really struggling to figure out how to do this ...
4 votes
1 answer
120 views

Is this object Mars?

I decided to try the Astrophotography mode on my phone. Looking at the image I saw an object I didn't notice at the time. What is the blue circle right of the Moon and just on the top right of the ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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How can I id this celestial without data?

Anecdotal. Also, I'm using the term 'celestial' loosely; to mean something shiny in the skies. I'm based out of Nagpur in Central India. Sleeping outdoors on account of summer over the last few days I'...
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2 votes
0 answers
60 views

I saw a blinking light source, can someone explain it? [duplicate]

I was out watching the Perseids in the AM hours of August 11, 2018 from central Hungary. I brought my binoculars just in case I want to do regular stargazing. There was a blinking light directly ...
3 votes
1 answer
678 views

What is this pale blue dot in a daytime photo of a Sun halo? [duplicate]

This photo of the sun behind a cloud was taken on the south coast of England in early May 2021 using an iPhone 11. A halo is visible which I think is the 22-degree halo. However, the photo also shows ...
3 votes
2 answers
207 views

What did I photograph around 6 AM on April 27th, 2021? Supermoon plus comet?

Facing SW just before sunrise on April 27, 2021 in Central Florida: The timestamps on the pics start at 6:23 end at 6:27. It was still visible and breaking up like a post launch trail that I would ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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Are the bright dots in this image individual stars?

I saw this picture of M51 (Whirlpool galaxy) and noticed many, many bright dots around and in the galaxy. I have freehand-circled a few as examples. Are these individual stars (probably supergiants) ...
8 votes
0 answers
580 views

Black spot in Mars' sky

There is a sequence of three raw images by Mars Curiosity Rover taken during Sol 3066 (22/03/2022, roughly) that show the same features of Mars' landscape and sky. They are separated by 38 seconds' ...
4 votes
1 answer
112 views

What type of galaxy is LEDA 14884?

A new image of deep space was released yesterday, showing tons of galaxies. One in particular (named "LEDA 14884") looks very puzzling (like an ear), zoomed in below: Article says it's a ...
2 votes
1 answer
131 views

Blue, red, and white star? [duplicate]

At 6:30pm central time in the USA I saw a rapidly twinkling red blue and white star in the sky. It was about south east and I was really confused. I looked it up it might be Sirius but I'm not sure. I ...
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

What Constellation Is This? (Photo Included)

Observed on 9th of Jan 2021 in Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK) looking WSW at a little after Midnight.
14 votes
3 answers
7k views

Does this photo show the "Little Dipper" and "Big Dipper"?

There are two clusters of stars that I always thought were the Big Dipper and Little Dipper. But after looking at images of the Little Dipper and Big Dipper online, I am not too sure if that's what ...
15 votes
2 answers
2k views

What caused this mysterious stellar occultation on July 10, 2017 from something ~100 km away from 486958 Arrokoth?

In 2017 a series of stellar occultations by asteroid 2014 MU69 "Ultima Thule" now officially named 486958 Arrokoth were timed in order to obtain better orbital information before the New ...
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1 vote
1 answer
419 views

Moving stars in the sky

Today at 7:24 pm, I saw to stars moving parallel to each other for a few seconds in the sky. Then, both suddenly vanished. What phenomenon is this?
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36 views

I saw many moving stars moving at high speed and disappearing at the middle. What could it have been? [duplicate]

Time : 6:30 to 1:00 P.M. Location : 8°52'42"N 38°48'49"E Date : October 28, 2020 I saw stars moving one after another and there were many of them. After moving some distance they vanished ...
2 votes
2 answers
98 views

I saw 3 consecutive object disappearing in the sky at same nearby location

I was roaming on my terrace and I saw star-like moving object that gradually became small, red colour and disappear. Within a few minutes I saw another similar-looking object a little distance away ...
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10 votes
1 answer
2k views

Which planet is this (if any)?

I live in Ahmedabad, in India, with an exact location of about 27.2048° N, 77.4975° E. Currently (as of this writing), it is 20:52 EST. I noticed a red object in the sky. (Forgive the crude imaging. ...
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4 votes
3 answers
485 views

Mystery CCD camera

What I know: this is a Meade-brand CCD camera. I believe it to be relatively old (2004?). It does not have a model number, and the only pictures I can find on the internet call it a "USB PC-...
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1 vote
1 answer
222 views

I saw a weird thing around Venus

I pointed my telescope (50mm aperture, 500mm focal length, 4mm eyepiece, image taken through a window) at Venus and saw this: What is it? I don't think this is Uranus or Neptune as my telescope is ...
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1 vote
1 answer
180 views

What is this planet or satellite in this picture?

I took this photo in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, 38°13'N 115°18'E (+38.23, +115.31) on the night of February 8, 2020. Here you can see a round object above the moon, and it was moving fast,...
5 votes
1 answer
134 views

Where was this photo of Nancy Grace Roman taken, what is the display shown?

Where was this photo of Nancy Grace Roman taken, what is the display shown, is there any technical information on this display and where is it now? If this is a NASA photo then there should be an ...
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2 votes
1 answer
177 views

Did I see a meteor(oid) or space debris or something else?

About three years ago I think, at night I've seen something enter the atmosphere in a glowing bright fireball. But I think it wasn't the fire from burning up, but because of ionization (what also ...
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1 vote
1 answer
143 views

What satellite is this?

While out viewing the Perseid shower last night (8/11/20), we saw an interesting object that I'm trying to identify. We're in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. It appeared to be traveling west->...
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Two luminous points disappearing in the sky

I saw a few days ago two luminous points in the sky, which were quite close (about 1-2 degree of separation between them) and not apparently moving (or to slow to be noticed with the naked eye). The ...
6 votes
1 answer
93 views

What is the role of the mesh on which dipole elements of the MWA antennas are placed?

I was reading about the radio telescope - Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) situated in Western Australia. Antennas of this telescope are quite unique and different from the usual dish radio telescope. ...
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0 votes
0 answers
16 views

Multiple star-like looking objects moving across the sky [duplicate]

I know this question has been asked before, and not only on this resource. But none of the answers look satisfactory to my case. So yesterday shortly after dusk, rouhgly around 18 UTC (local 21PM, I ...
4 votes
1 answer
120 views

Which stars have I been seeing?

In the past mornings I have used to get out before sunrise for a stroll, to get some exercise while not meeting other people. I live in Eindhoven (NL), and I get out of home at around 5:30 AM, when ...
2 votes
0 answers
35 views

Moving objects in the sky tonight 27th March 2020 [duplicate]

Multiple moving objects not in a line. The are staggered single line and in groups of two or three. One or two moved downward. They had a dim light orangey colour. It was not obvious that these ...
1 vote
0 answers
53 views

Light brightened dimmed disappeared reappeared [duplicate]

My son and I saw an unusual light sit in one spot for 15-20 minutes as it got very bright and dimmed, got bright, disappeared and reappeared repeatedly. It then slowly moved north-west then finally ...
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11 votes
1 answer
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Was the "green star" event in NGC 3314 ever figured out or named?

from NGC 3314 Variable Object by By Bill Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa) and Lisa Frattare (Hubble Heritage Project, STScI). The object in question is circled. Comments below this answer led ...
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1 vote
0 answers
39 views

Stars moving in a straight line in Minnesota [duplicate]

I was outside at around 7:50 to 8:09 ish. At I looked up in the sky to see around 20-50 stars or something moving in a straight line at the same speed. I have never seen anything like this ever. And ...
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1 vote
1 answer
206 views

Satellites traveling in single file across the sky [duplicate]

I just watched 46 (best count) satellites traveling in single file, about 3 second intervals between them. Is that possible? I don't want to believe they were UFO's. Time was ...
1 vote
1 answer
74 views

How to understand the meaning of this International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) lunar occultation of Mars map?

Earthsky.org's Watch Mars disappear behind the moon on February 18 as well as Moon occults Mars morning of February 18 include the image below and credit it to The International Occultation Timing ...
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