ASKING THE EXPERTS

New developments on my mystery star. I received an email this morning from Jondrell Bank Observatory that would indicate Karen was right (again).

Thank you for your kind words about the Night Sky pages which are written by Ian Morison. I had a quick look at your website and I suspect your friend Karen was right - the bright "star" seen in the west-southwest in the early evening at the moment is the planet Venus not the International Space Station. It is so bright as it is relatively close to the Sun and reflects its light towards us just as we see the Moon by reflected sunlight.

Best wishes
Tim

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Dr T.J. O'Brien, University of Manchester,
Jodrell Bank Observatory, Dept of Physics & Astronomy,
Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 9DL
Tel - +44 1477 572623, Fax - +44 1477 571618

So my star's identity is still up in the air. While I'm certainly inclined to believe Dr. O'Brien, I still prefer to think it's the space station I'm looking at. Either way, it's rather amazing to think that man had progressed to the point that we actually can toss a man-made star into the night sky.