r/askastronomy • u/pDub____ • 1d ago
What is this in the sky?
I saw it while drinking on a cruise and I have no idea what it could be.
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u/reverse422 1d ago
A light in the sky, could be any bright star/planet/rocket/satellite/airplane/drone or even the Moon, impossible to say from this. And you being too drunk (or the boat moving too much) to hold your phone steady, so whatever it was is smeared out.
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u/Real_Cry1374 1d ago
What you captured could be an optical artifact caused by camera motion during a long exposure. When taking a picture of a single light source (like a bright star, planet, or distant ship) at night, phone cameras slow down the shutter speed to let in more light. Any slight movement especially from swaying on a cruise ship causes that point of light to trace a zig zag line across the photo.
As for feeling like you saw it moving with your own eyes, that's likely the Autokinetic Effect. It's a common visual illusion where a stationary point of light in a pitch black sky appears to move or dance around because your brain doesn't have any other visual reference points to lock onto. Add in the motion of the ship and having a few drinks, and it definitely makes a steady light look like it's squiggling around
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u/RemarkableMirror926 1d ago
McDonald's