Bright Blinking Lights in Southeastern Sky Observed From Ohio

-- Tom Ashbrook | January 21, 2020

Question:

I just walked my dog here in central ohio, time was around 1930 hrs.
In the south east sky I took notice of what to appear to me as a star. Brighter than most but what cought my eye was it appeared to “blink”. I noticed red and green colors as well as white all turning different colors such as an emergency lights.
Looking through my binoculars, the colors seemed to go counter clockwise.
What did I see?

-- Tom Ashbrook

Answer:

There are several bright stars in the SE evening sky this time of year that could have been the objects you noted. The bright stars Procyon, Sirius, and Canopus are in the E/SE sky and would appear to blink, or even show different colors, dependent upon how much atmosphere the star’s light was traveling through to get to you. Other Earth-based explanations, including aircraft, are also possible.

-- Jeff Mangum

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