What Were the Two Bright Yellow Lights in the Sky on July 10th?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the observation of two bright yellow lights in the sky on July 10th, with participants speculating on their identity and nature. The scope includes observational astronomy and identification of celestial objects.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes observing two bright yellow lights in the sky, suggesting they might be planets based on their brightness and size.
  • Another participant recommends using the Stellarium program to identify celestial objects based on the observer's coordinates.
  • Some participants propose that the observed lights could be Jupiter and Venus, noting their brightness and rising times during that period.
  • A link to an article is shared, which may provide additional context or visuals related to the celestial event.
  • A later reply expresses appreciation for the article, indicating a similarity between the observed lights and images in the article.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants have not reached a consensus on the identity of the lights, with multiple competing views regarding their nature, particularly the suggestion that they could be Jupiter and Venus.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the assumptions made about the objects' identities, as well as the dependence on the observer's location and time of observation.

Who May Find This Useful

Astronomy enthusiasts, casual observers of celestial events, and individuals interested in identifying planets and stars in the night sky may find this discussion useful.

Aero51
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I am by no means an astronomer and have no experience whatsoever with astronomy. On the night of July 9th (well it was really 3:30AM on July 10th) I was going to the bathroom and I noticed two very bright yellow lights out in the sky (one slightly brighter than the other). They were easily 20x brighter than the 2nd brightest star in the sky, so much so that I could capture them clearly with my Droid RAZR cell phone camera. I am guessing that these were planets because they were quite large. In addition I tried to get a better look with a pain of high powered binoculars only to hurt my eyes a bit.

To give you an idea of my location I have coordinates and the direction I was facing.


41.7003° N, 73.9214° W, looking Eastward.

Thanks
 
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Aero51, I suggest you can find the objects (planets, I'm fairly sure) that you saw if you download the Stellarium free program. Once you download it, you simply input your coordinates. Then you can see your skies in real time!

http://www.stellarium.org/
 
The only possible things I can think of that they could be are Jupiter and Venus. Both rise in the East early in the morning this time of the year, Jupiter at about 1:30 am and Venus at about 2:10 am, and both are brighter than -2 magnitude, which is several times brighter than Vega which is dimmer with 0.03 magnitude. (Lower numbers are brighter)
 
Awsome russ, the picture posted in the article is nearly identical to what I saw, thanks.
 

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