Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/16/2010

Question
On Sunday night around 10.25 pm gmt(British Summer Time) I was walking my dogs when on looking up I noticed what looked like a star that sat on the line between the pole star and the plough approximately the distance apart similar to the the distance between the two lower stars oof the plough It was bright and stationary I looked at itm for some time then turned to call my dogs. When I looked again a couple of minutes later it was gone. Could this have been a slow moving satellite or what?
I dont study the stars but do look up at the sky when walking my dogs at night one by the way is called Cassiopeia, Cassie for short.

Answer
HI Denis

Almost certainly this was a satellite. Particularly in the evenings, we can see light reflected off satellites that are high above us---still in the light of the sun, while we are already in shadow.  And that would explain the bright image...and consequent disappearance of the object, as it drifted into the shadow of the Earth.  

Paul Wagner