Expert: Tom Whiting - 6/17/2011

Question
Hello,

I am hoping you can help me figure out what I am seeing.  I feel you are the best person to answer this because I am in Erie as well and hopefully you have seen what I am talking about.  I live in the Beherend area, and last Saturday I was sitting out at side late at night 10pm - midnight and there was a red and white flashing stationary light in the sky South from my house.  I watched it for hours and while there was slight movement it did not appear to be much.  At this point I didn't think too much about it.  Tonight while outside (11pm) this light was there in the same exact location again, but there appeared to be two dimmer lights on either side of the brighter light that were doing the same thing, not moving just kind of hoovering. I came across this website while trying to research what these could be, but all I have found was UFO information for red lights in the sky and I do not think these are UFO's.  

Hope you can help.
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Alicia,
No, there is no UFO's here (or anywhere)... plus you re-identified it in nearly the same place in the sky the following nights. Which confirms it as a heavenly body... star or planet.
Well, there are two possibilities; the bright zero magnitude star Arcturus is high in the due south at 10 pm at about 65 degrees elevation, and there is the bright planet Saturn in the SSW at about 40 degrees high.  Saturn is also near the 3rd magnitude star Porrima right now.
But since you said it was "flashing" (read that - twinkling) and since Arcturus is orangish yellow in color as it is a red giant star, I'm more inclined to think that it is Arcturus, as opposed to the Saturn/Porrima duo, that you are seeing. Planets don't twinkle (flash) unless it's a very very unstable atmosphere.  The past week's weather has produced some awful night skies, weather wise, but I still put my money on Arcturus because you said, due south, and Arcturus is due south at 10 pm. whereas Saturn is lower in the SSW.  (And BTW, 10 pm is not late at night, in fact with sunset at 9 pm now, total darkness isn't until 11 pm until first light at 4 am... we only have 5 hours of total darkness. So "late at night" is more like 2 am EDST.... Eastern Daylight Stupid Time.)
Oh, stars don't hover... they are many light years distant, way out in space.
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA