I posted the stills below from last night on the Eclipse thread. I also just quickly edited two minutes of the video and attached it as a link to my YT channel below.
April.08.2024 Lights
This very energetic light hung around for at least an hour. When I went to bed it was still out there doing the exact same thing. I checked in the morning at 0630 before going to work, but it was already bright out and the light was gone
To give a bit of background, I'm not an expert at using the night vision yet, and I really should have gone into the basement and dug out the tripod to stabilize it. But I thought I might miss it doing something
I wear glasses, so usually with the light pollution and atmospheric effects, everything looks kind of twinkly to me in the night sky. I have a general idea of where the stars and planets are supposed to be - so even if I see something out of the ordinary - I don't grab the night vision. We live close to downtown and the police helicopter is overhead all the time. Usually what will catch my attention is a high-flying jet - because it's blinking and I can't hear it yet. But after watching for a while, a clear flight path and the engines will become clear.
This light may have been slightly moving South to North, but not much. If I had to guess, I would say it was between five and ten thousand feet. Much higher than a landing plane or the police chopper, but nowhere near where a big jet would be overflying to another destination.
When I took the night vision out last night, it was because Jupiter looked bright and I wanted to see it. Before I scanned over to Jupiter, I found this. Maybe a light effect? But I scanned the other stars and they all looked like they usually do through night vision. This light was completely different. I did bring my wife out and she was surprised because this light was barely visible with the naked eye and looked like a dim star. But once it came onto the night vision, it looked completely different.
The night vision idea came from Paulides - who uses 4th generation military stuff. Which are out of my range for the cost. The Sionyx Aurora is still pricey, but you can find them on e-bay for a deal occasionally. They also film in colour, which I thought could be an advantage - even though you lose resolution. This light could be some odd atmospheric anomaly, but I don't thing it's a drone, plane or satellite due to its brightness, silence and the fact it barely moved for over an hour.
