Very bright geo satellite in my night sky?

[avicenna]

TL;DR Summary

There is a very bright geostationary satellite visible in our nigh sky quite recently. It was there at 10 pm and was there at 6am at the same position which means it is stationary above a fixed position relative to the earth.

Something strange! There is a very bright geostationary satellite visible in our nigh sky quite recently. It was there at 10 pm and was there at 6am at the same position which means it is stationary above a fixed position relative to the earth. But the internet says we cannot see geostationary satellites which should at very high orbit.

So what is it. It is the brightest "star" almost like Venus when visible.

 

[berkeman]

Um, well um, er, I'm not sure how to say this...

What are the coordinates of this object (duh), or at least your lat/long on the Earth and which direction you are looking?

 

[Vanadium 50]

@berkeman is right - we need to know a) where you are, and b) where it is. Anything else you can tell us would be helpful. "Almost as bright as Venus" means what exactly? ASs bright as Jupiter? As bright as Venus at is maximum or minimum. Do you see a color? A disk?

We need more than "I saw something. What is it?"

 

[avicenna]

Um, well um, er, I'm not sure how to say this...

What are the coordinates of this object (duh), or at least your lat/long on the Earth and which direction you are looking?

I am looking slightly towards east; altitude is about 60 degree from horizontal. Sky not cloudy at 10pm and not a single other star visible. At 6am, also no other stars. sunrise about 7am.
[edit] I don't want to reveal my location fro privacy reasons. The point is taht it is at the same location at 10pm and 6am. Cannot be a bright light carried by weather baloon.

 

[berkeman]

I am looking slightly towards east; altitude is about 60 degree from horizontal. Sky not cloudy at 10pm and not a single other star visible. At 6am, also no other stars. sunrise about 7am.

Well that narrows it down to the whole Earth. Thanks mucho. Counting down.... three one thousand, two one thousand, one one thousand (you don't want me to get to the zero one thousand)...

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you don't tell us where you are, it's going to be hard. It's like telling us "it's on my left".

Something to think about. Venus is 8000 miles across and on average about 100 million miles away. If something is as bright and 20,000 miles away, it's got to be about a mile and a half across, assuming it shines by reflected sunlight.

 

[avicenna]

If you don't tell us where you are, it's going to be hard. It's like telling us "it's on my left".

Something to think about. Venus is 8000 miles across and on average about 100 million miles away. If something is as bright and 20,000 miles away, it's got to be about a mile and a half across, assuming it shines by reflected sunlight.

That's also my understanding. I don't understand why my location is needed, say Ecuador. The fact is it is at the same location and does not rise and set with the sun. I can't understand.

 

[DaveC426913]

For all the details OP is giving us, we might as well to conclude it's Jupiter at night and Venus in the morning. I'm not sure I have enough confidence in their observational or communicaton skills to rule it out.

According to Stellarium, in Ecuador's sky Venus is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 6AM, and Jupiter is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 10PM.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Because there are lots of satellites up there.
However, there are also a lot of non-satellites.

In either case, knowing where you are and where you see it helps determining what it is. You can keep secrets, that's your choice, but how do you expect us to help you if you do?

That said, if you are at the equator, you should be able to work out where the putative satellite is over. Nevertheless, I think with what you have already told us, it is probably not a satellite. It may not even be a single object.

 

[avicenna]

For all the details OP is giving us, we might as well to conclude it's Jupiter at night and Venus in the morning. I'm not sure I have enough confidence in their observational or communicaton skills to rule it out.

According to Stellarium, in Ecuador's sky Venus is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 6AM, and Jupiter is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 10PM.View attachment 333926

View attachment 333925

If it is a planet, it would move with the stars. But it is not moving. I will try watching at 10pm and then 3am tomorrow. At 6am today it was "there".

 

[Baluncore]

I don't want to reveal my location fro privacy reasons. The point is taht it is at the same location at 10pm and 6am.

I would suggest you identify the object yourself.
Go to this site. https://www.heavens-above.com/main.aspx
Specify your location.
When you see the object, look to see what is predicted to be there in the sky.

 

[berkeman]

If it is a planet, it would move with the stars.

No comment. Have fun. (oops, that was a comment, no?)

 

[russ_watters]

For all the details OP is giving us, we might as well to conclude it's Jupiter at night and Venus in the morning.

That's what I was thinking as well. A pair of binoculars would be able to verify it.

 

[russ_watters]

If it is a planet, it would move with the stars. But it is not moving. I will try watching at 10pm and then 3am tomorrow. At 6am today it was "there".

Only if you watch it long enough to see it move....and you said you didn't see any stars.

 

[DaveC426913]

Another possibility is Saturn and Sirius.

 

[Vanadium 50]

With the information we have, which is the more likely possibility?

A, You are seeing two different objects.
B. There is a small moon-sized body in geosynchroinous orbit that only you can see. To give an idea of the size, I have a comparison between the size of the object and the largest rocket that might have launched it.

That's the speck on the bottom.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Do you have a smartphone? Download Stellarium. The app lets you point the phone at the sky, and displays in real time what you are looking at. I don't remember if the free version includes satellite data, but - like others - I don't think you'll need that.

 

[russ_watters]

Also Google Sky Map app.

 

[avicenna]

That's what I was thinking as well. A pair of binoculars would be able to verify it.

If it was Jupiter and Venus, then it was a strange coincidence that I watched at 10pm and 6am when one planet replaced the other. I will watch tonight at 9.pm and follow up after to see if it sets. They almost have the same brightness, the brightest stars I have ever seen.

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you saw it around 10PM and 6AM, and your theory is that it's geostationary, you don't test the theory by looking again near 10PM and 6AM. You test it by looking at 2 AM.

 

[avicenna]

For all the details OP is giving us, we might as well to conclude it's Jupiter at night and Venus in the morning. I'm not sure I have enough confidence in their observational or communicaton skills to rule it out.

According to Stellarium, in Ecuador's sky Venus is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 6AM, and Jupiter is about 35 degrees up in the Eastern sky at 10PM.View attachment 333926

View attachment 333925

You are dead right! The night star is Jupiter.

I look for the star at 9pm tonight but the Singapore (not Ecuador) sky was cloudy. At 11.30pm, the sky cleared and there was the lone, but bright star. It was clearly shifted west by an appreciable arc , say 20-30deg.

What confused me originally was I saw two different planets of similar brightness at about the same position at different times - 10pm and 6am! It is a rather rare event of coincidence. I could not distinguish the different brightness of Jupiter and Venus.

[edit]I was part cause of the rare coincidence; had I watched at 10pm and 12midnight, then I would have known the star was a planet.