Objects in the Sky

When we look up at night what might we see in the sky?

pic  D. Drumm	pic   D. Drumm
Stars twinkle.  They are so far away all we will see, even with the HST is a point of light. You may notice that they can be different colours depending on what type of star they are.	Planets shine.  They do appear more than a point of light although Venus is often mistaken for a star. This is a photo of Saturn in the constellation of Leo.
NASA   Credit: C. Colley
Meteors  They flash across the sky. Above we see one of the Geminids.	Aeroplanes They have red and green flashing lights. Not to be mistaken for alien spacecraft which don't.
pic  D. Drumm	NASA
Comets  Their tail always pointing away from the Sun.	Satellites  You need clear skies to see these. They reflect light from the Sun. They are usually only visible an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise as the rest of the time the Earth blocks the Sun's light. If you see an object disappear suddenly it was probably a satellite.
NASA	pic   D. Drumm
The Milky Way  Appears as a dull cloud that stretches across the sky. Often not visible unless conditions are good. The only other galaxy visible with the naked eye in the northern hemisphere is M31 in andromeda.	Nebulae  The red object in Orion's sword is actually the Orion Nebula, a huge cloud of gases in which stars are born.