It's a mystery to me

I noticed this bright object in the Eastern sky on Saturday morning & am curious as to whether it's a comet or not. I couldn't find any reference to a comet being visible at the moment. The sky was clear & this object slowly faded from view, but the stars remained clear and bright & I didn't see any clouds in the sky. Any ideas of it's ID would be appreciated. Thanks

It's the Orion Nebula.

fogboundturtle wrote in post #17333616
It's the Orion Nebula.

Hmm, I don't think so.

Interesting.. I have no idea. It looks like a comet but comets last a long time. They don't fade away in minutes.

Thanks fogboundturtle, rrbint and gjl711.

@ fogboundturtle: Definitely not the Orion nebula, it was in the wrong part of the sky.
@ gjl711: I observed it for 30 minutes before it faded away. I've no idea how long it was visible before I noticed it, as I was in a light polluted area prior to seeing it.

Go out again, same time and see if it's still there.

Could be a meteor (or some other debris) entering the atmosphere at an odd angle. Or maybe a wormhole?

I would think if it was a visible comet, it would have been all offer the news. One thought did occur. It could be the remnant of a contrail. I have seen jets leave little puffy ones from time to time, or just a short line.

Thanks for the input folks.

@rrblint: Unfortunately too much cloud cover for the past few days.

@ETS: If it was a meteor (or some other debris) entering the atmosphere, I'd expect it to be moving fast. But if it were moving towards or away from me, I suppose it could look static. I like the Wormhole suggestion though.

@gjl711: I would also have expected some mention of it, although someone did say on local radio that they saw a comet a few days previously. I don't think it is a contrail as any jets passing were not leaving any that I could see, but I suppose, anything is possible. I wonder could it have been a weird cloud or something reflecting moonlight?

It's not a comet, for a start it looks nothing like a comet. And if there were one that bright it would be headline news and we'd all have seen it for ages.

My bet is that it's stuff on the front of the lens.

I believe its called the beginning of apocalypse....wormhole will suck everything on earth...we are all doomed

dkizzle wrote in post #17336228
I believe its called the beginning of apocalypse....wormhole will suck everything on earth...we are all doomed

The rapture is here!!!

here is a good resource that loves reader submissions.

https://www.facebook.c​om/EarthSky
or
http://earthsky.org

they have lots of followers who can confirm sightings or explain what you saw.

of course location information is key.

hollis_f wrote in post #17336185
It's not a comet, for a start it looks nothing like a comet. And if there were one that bright it would be headline news and we'd all have seen it for ages.

My bet is that it's stuff on the front of the lens.

Since he viewed it for about 30 min., my bet is that he saw it without the lens as well.

I first noticed it through street lighting and wasn't wearing glasses or looking through any lens & only got to see it clearly when I got away from the lights. I also took other shots from different angles, so if it was stuff on the lens, it would have moved in relation to the part of the sky that it was in, so I guess that rules that out.

@ Left Handed Brisket: Thanks for the links.