Monday night around 8 p.m. I went upstairs and was suprised to see (through the landing window) 2 incredibly bright lights - something I've never seen before.

I live in Rawai, but close to the main road in-between Chalong and Rawai.

It was suprising enough for me to go outside and look. The stars were all obvious, but these 2 lights were FAR brighter. I went outside again about 5 mins later and they were still there. An hour later, and they had gone, whereas all the stars were still clearly visible.

This morning I read in the UK internet news that Venus and Jupiter are in line, so I wondered whether this was the explanation. But, could planets disappear in an hour?

V odd. Anybody else see them or have an explanation?

nah they are there every single night in phuket town.. i always wonder if its a star, satelite, ovni or some the reflection of all the buddah amulets worn by men in patong

Edited March 13, 201214 yr by LivinginKata
rude remark removed - again

I believe they are the planets Venus and Jupiter. Both are on the closest approach to Earth right now.

The very bright star near the western horizon is Jupiter. The bright star with a distinct reddish tint almost directly overhead is Mars. Noticed them myself a couple nights ago around 9 or 10 PM or so, maybe a bit later, so I looked it up.

By the way, the brightest star in our sky (not including the sun of course), Sirius, is also visible this time of year, and these two stars are considerably brighter than Sirius. (Seriously!)

But - as I said in my OP, around an hour later they had gone.

Seems unlikely that planets could disappear in that time frame.

But - as I said in my OP, around an hour later they had gone.

Seems unlikely that planets could disappear in that time frame.

Hmm... Can't explain that one F1f. You didn't mention what part of the sky you saw them, so I assumed it was Mars and Jupiter which were clearly visible the night I mentioned seeing them. Jupiter was close enough to the horizon that it could have disappeared in short time, but Mars was overhead.

No other explanation than an alien invasion then I'd guess...

I was sitting outside in Chalong last night.

Several very large, and very bright (chinese) lanterns slowly went over us from the direction of the Chalong Pier.

Those are Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the bright one. Those are planets, not stars Planets just reflect light, like moon. Stars instead have pretty intensive nuclear fusion going on, which produces visible light and other radiation.

Btw. Our energy comes mainly from the Sun, except nuclear fission fuels, which has been created by the supernova explosions (and may even by the big bang). Oil, gas, coal are all byproducts of the Sun radiation.

Venus can been seen only just after the sunset and before the sunset. This is due it's located closer to the Sun than our little 3rd rock from the Sun. And also it's visible only when Venus is 'on the sides of the Sun' compared to the Earth.

Mars is indeed clearly red colored due it's surface color. I haven't noticed Mars on the sky, is it visible at the moment?

Thanks for confirming that oilinki.

Here is that article I previously mentioned http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17312354

Not sure if it is related due to the date but ...

Mars approaches Earth on Saturday night

BANGKOK, 3 March 2012 (NNT) – National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand has urged astronomers to be ready for a spectacular phenomenon in which the Sun, Earth and Mars are in alignment.

Mars will reportedly be opposite to the Sun this Saturday and will be closest to Earth on Monday. This phenomenon, which occurs every two years, enables people to see Mars brighter than ever throughout the night.

On March 5, Mars will rise in the northeast direction at 18.16 hours and will fall in the northwest direction at 6.41 hours on March 6.

The latest close approach of Mars to Earth was reported on January 28, 2010. Such an orbit is forecast to recur on April 14, 2014.

Those interested in witnessing the phenomenon are welcome to join the star-gazing activities at the Thai Astronomical Society, starting on March 3.

Thailandnews

Tywais: Related, but a bit different way. If the Sun, Earth and Mars are aligned, then Mars should be on 'top of our head' at the midnight, while the Sun is just the opposite. The same time Venus and Jupiter has already gone down under the horizon.

If you find a dark enough spot to look at the sky, there are all kind of interesting things to look at.

With a telescope or even with a good binoculars, it's possible to see the mountains on the moon and the moons of the Jupiter.

It's pretty humblifying feeling to understand how small we are even in our own solar system, not to mention our galaxy .. and..

Another thing to see in the night sky are the satellites. Just look up and you can see modarately slowly moving 'stars'. Those are satelites. The Heavens above is an excellent service to find out what was the satellite and it's history, which just went over. http://www.heavens-above.com/

If you plan to surprise your girl/boyfriend, you can even say 'Hey look to northern sky now.. there will be a start saying hello you you'. These are the flares which the solar panels of the Iridium satellites reflects to previously known locations and times which are visible on the ground. Locations and times can be found at that website.

Br, Oilinki

btw Tywais. I still own you a decent reply for another thing.. coming during this decade, I promise!

But - as I said in my OP, around an hour later they had gone.

Seems unlikely that planets could disappear in that time frame.

The planets just dropped under the horizon.

When you look at the Sun, it's not really moving. Our planet rotates like a slowly spinning ball. One spin take full 24 hours, which we call a day.

The same happens practically all visible items on the sky (except those which are going around the Earth, like air planes and satelites).

It takes 6 hours for a Sun to move from the zenith (top of the head) to the horizon (sunset). When you saw the planets, those were pretty close to the horizon already. As the planets were already declining down, It only took only one hour for those to go under the horizon. And still the planets remain in almost the same place, it was our earth which spun so that the planets seemed to move down. We spin about 15 degrees every hour.

Thanks for confirming that oilinki.

Here is that article I previously mentioned http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-17312354

This is one of my favorite topics to talk about, with a beer or whiskey naturally

Few year ago Moon, Venus and Jupiter were close together which gave photographers an great opportunity to take pictures. One of the pictures is at Mission Hospital. Could not found that, but here is an substitute, smiling face http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Jupiter-Venus-Moon_Smile.JPG

Since you say the landing window,are you sure you didn't build on the runway of an airport?Could explain those 2 lights you see.

Didn't think to take a photo? Were they star size, moon size, house size?

Slightly larger than star size.

If they were near the western horizon & disappeared, they were probably those planets.

Anyone interested in astronomy - bookmark 'Astronomy Picture of the Day'. They often talk about these events coming up or have photos of them just past.

Slightly larger than star size.

You saw them too?

Yes, they were slightly larger than star size, but a lot brighter.

I think Oilinki is probably right and they disappeared under the horizon. It just took me by suprise that they disappeared in such a short time frame.

Great to see though and, (added benefit), it made me look at the night sky again - something I haven't done for ages.

But - as I said in my OP, around an hour later they had gone.

Seems unlikely that planets could disappear in that time frame.

Hmm... Can't explain that one F1f. You didn't mention what part of the sky you saw them, so I assumed it was Mars and Jupiter which were clearly visible the night I mentioned seeing them. Jupiter was close enough to the horizon that it could have disappeared in short time, but Mars was overhead.

No other explanation than an alien invasion then I'd guess...

TAT will be over the moon.