2008_12_28_venus-nashira
The shot on the left is from Starry Night, an astronomy program. Venus is the bright "star" in the upper left. The star at the bottom is Nashira, in Capricorn. On the right is a shot I took on the evening of 28 December 2008. Same scene. Venus is there. So are Nashira and other stars. The one exception is the blue star near the middle. It's not in the star field on the left. The only stars in that spot are 11th-magnitude or dimmer. So: what is it? A nova? It's not an airplane, because it didn't move. It wasn't flying. I finally decided it's probably a lens flare from Venus. But I don't know.
Comments and faves
kbaird (42 months ago | reply)
Where's the center of the optics? Don't lens flares retain a point symmetry from the center of the lens?
Also, Neptune is in the vicinity, but I can't be sure if it would be in this field.
dsearls (42 months ago | reply)
It's clear at this point that this is a lens flare. See here for more from the same lens:
dsearls (42 months ago | reply)
It's clear at this point that this is a lens flare. See flickr.com/photos/docsearls/3156989912/in/set -72157612013... for more from the same lens. It looks like two suns setting.