9 September 2007

There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of facts. Samuel Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain

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I found a useful table called Want Might It Be? In the Firefly Practical Astronomy book by Storm Dunlop. I have added a few items to it [in square brackets] and chanted the formatting.

What You See	What It Might Be
Flashing lights	aircraft stars and planets with strong scintillation tumbling satellites
Color changes	aircraft stars and planets with strong scintillation
Flashing pin-points of light	head-on meteors (very rare) effects of vision [tumbling satellite] {Iridium (or other satellite) flare (single flash)}
Steady, unrecognized points of light	stars planets minor planets variable stars novae (rare) [head-on aircraft]
Patches of light	clouds [noctilucent clouds or reflected light-pollution] upper-atmosphere experiments rocket exhaust trails comets star clusters galaxies gegenschein
Visible motion	birds aircraft balloons satellites Meteors, fireballs
Motion over days	Planets minor planets comets
Slight meandering path (satellite)	effects of vision
Waving changes in position (stars)	scintillation effects of vision