Night sky 23rd April 2021

Birds, plane and meteor?

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ok…im going to make an attempt at this but without my usual 90 paragraph diatribe :wink:

#1 I believe this to be a low flying plane. I’m guessing you live in a city where there is a fair amount of ambient light which would explain why the fogginess is so visible as would explain the underside of a low flying plane. this seems light it would be a bigger commercial plane though and has forward facing lights, which would be turned on in such conditions. that also one of the few things that would move this smoothly. the reason you are more than likely unable to see much of the body is due to weather.

#2 I’m not exactly sure what this is but I don’t believe it do be a meteor because of it’s flight path. meteors would have no curve at all. but I am thinking possibly some sort of bug. a bugs wings are known to be semi reflective and it’s body not so much, so flapping of it’s wings would cause the strobe, and depending on distance from the camera that might explain it’s size here. maybe 2-4 feet for a smaller insect. the cherry on the bug theory is that the strobe ( wing) effect happens at the apex of the lowest curve which is how such an insect would turn sharply too. strictly a guess though

#3 now this one is very very interesting… at first glance I would say this is the international space station. it has the rough shape of the ISS but there is no way a stock V3 would ever get this good of a view of something the size of a football field that’s 250 miles away. this is kind of how it looks when I track it with my TELESCOPE! so in light of all that what would Occam’s razor have to say on the subject. it appears to have one “wing” and the nose and the tail are of similar length with a uniform body throughout. and it also glides very smoothly. and looking closely the “tail” and the left “wing” both appear to end not sharply, but in more of an orb, which suggests anti-collision/ navigation lights as are required on all civilian planes. I would definitely call number 3 a small single prop civilian plane possibly over exposed from city lights.

critics of my critique dont be curtailed :wink: ( sorry watched V for Vendetta the other day)

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I have only had my V3 a week and its opened my eyes to just how much activity there is in the night sky, its already becoming a bit of an obsession.
And thank you for taking the time to post your wonderfully detailed replies, they are very appreciated.

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Honestly where do you people live that you get to record such awesome events

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Yes! Welcome to the club. I was hooked from Day 1 with the V3’s fabulous Starlight sensor. Still remain amazed and excited to wake up in the morning and see what I was able to capture!

Agree with @Bam. 1 and 3 are probably planes. 2 is a bug or bat.

But keep copies on the each video in a separate directory. Over time, you’ll have “history” to compare what you were able to catch.

Remember to keep an “eye” and V3 pointed up to capture the 60 Satellite SpaceX launch on April 28th at 12:05 am. @jenhaygle , maybe you’ll be the “first” Wyze V3 owner to capture a video of it!

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West Coast Canada close to a big city and an airport. I have only had the V3 for a week, I wasn’t expecting much when I pointed it skyward for a couple of days.

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@TechSis I think it’s not where one lives … it’s how dedicated one is to scrolling through the “record” on a V3 SD card.

Lay a v3 on its back, pointed straight up and join the fun! I think you would be surprised at what you will catch in the night sky above your house.

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Or on a telescoping pole to get it away from ground light, eventually gonna put that thing on my roof😁…


yea @todwatts hooked me with sky gazing talking about the Lyrids, and I’ve looked like this since.
Screenshot_20210425-192614_Google

I also used the same cam to prove to a company I paid well to replace all my vents covers that birds were still getting in my vents even though they were “Critter Proof”.

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@R.Good when I got started with this obsession, I put a camera on the roof too. But it quickly became a pain to go up and get the card. So I made a support to hold an extension pole. I bungee cord it to the gutter. It goes up about 14 feet.

And like @todwatts, when I edit the videos I put the short clip in one folder and save the original on another. I also rename them to include the date.

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If I leave my V3 pointing at the sky 24/7 in the daytime when the sun is directly overhead will it damage the sensor?

I have mine pointed in a more northern direction, so it’s not pointing directly into the sun. So far, I haven’t seen any issues. But I also don’t leave it out for weeks or months at a time. I consult the various meteor schedules available and put it in place for a few days at a time.

Maybe @todwatts can add his 2 cents.

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Nice Rig! I actually have a 2 level roof where I have access to the first level from my Bedroom window above the garage, so it would just be reaching out and grabbing the stand :slight_smile:

Of course it also comes with a conversation with my neighbors… so yea, not being a creeper, just watching the stars :rofl:

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@jenhaygle @mvb @bam I’ve had one V3 outside, pointing slightly up to the East, for 7+ months, with no problem.

I have had a second V3 … dedicated to pointing straight up in my backyard for 5+ months, in sleet, snow, freezing rain, rain and yes, sunshine with no issues.

Having said that, I do use the App to “turn off” the straight up V3 camera on bright sunny days (when I remember to do it)(which is probably 50 percent of the time)(And I’m not sure if that even protects the lens).

The problem with turning the V3 off on the app is that I have to then remember to turn it back on at dusk so I don’t miss anything. (And, of course, forgetting to turn on the V3 means that’s the night something good will happen.)

The intensity of the sun where I live is reduced because it was Fall, Winter and Spring.

I might regret leaving a camera straight up during the summer sun and 100 plus degrees.

But then again, I’m addicted to capturing things that go bump in the dark sky … so if a V3 goes bad, I already have “spares”, sitting in my closet, ready to deploy. (And I’m still covered by the WYZE Camera one-year warranty!)

As far as addictions go, I’m probably out less than $40 total to “feed” my SKY addiction:

$19.99 for the camera, $7 for the 32gb SD card, some high priced Wyze shipping and a couple of bucks for the extension cord.

The value of what I’ve captured? Priceless! Let alone value of the free education I’ve gotten from Professor @Bam and other Wyze meteor scholars.

And Mike and I also got instant fame when our meteor captures with our “specialized” cameras were featured on the nightly news. The laugh about that was worth the total outlay of my set-up.

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@todwatts, when I set up my StarCam the other day, I was thinking about only recording during the night and I had an epiphany, set up a schedule to turn it on at night and then off again at night. (I remembered I was already doing the same thing with another camera.) So, I know scheduling works. This will save space on the card and hopefully protect the camera too.

Perhaps we can get a ruling from Wyze directly. @WyzeDongsheng can you help us out?

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I do the same for my Interior Cameras. They are scheduled to turn on at 1130PM and Off at 600AM. I work from home and no reason to record myself all day. :smiley:

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I actually leave most of the interior cameras on during the day. I spend most of my day in the basement (my “man cave”) and the dogs are upstairs. It make it easier to know what they’re getting into when I can spy on them. :sunglasses:

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@jenhaygle so on that third video…I was so distracted by that first object I didnt even see the meteor you captured at 18 seconds into it! well done!

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Yeah, I basically stopped watching after that plane moved out of view. I always wonder if people in planes see the meteors.

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I saw that as well, There were actually three things in the full 1 minute video, I think the first was a bird ( see I’m learning from you guys already! ) but I couldn’t post the full minute.

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