What object did I photograph here (yellow arrow)? I’ve identified the left (yellow circle) as Collinder 399 but the right one has me stumped.

https://i.redd.it/vaskvq1v1ukd1.jpeg

9 Comments

  1. Photo taken in Iqaluit, NU, looking *SSW at ~2320 EDT, with a 10sec exposure on an iPhone 15 Pro. I was trying for the aurora but then I noticed the clusters and was curious.

    I was able to ID Collinder 399 on the left, but the one on the right is a mystery. I think the two brighter stars just to its right are HD 176871 and 176527.

    Any help is appreciated 🙂

  2. Thw two brightest stars in this field are the head of Aquila, the brighter being Altair.

    Hence, the circled “cluster” is correctly identified as Brocchi’s Cluster (Collinder 399, not a real cluster), and the two stars near the mystery object are also correctly identified.

    Nothing I have here gives any object in that location in front of HD 177347 (which is also shown here, at 7th magnitude). Sharpless 85 is in that location, but it is[ notoriously difficult to capture](https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcrowson/52602888592/) and your iPhone isn’t seeing it in this world.

    I would say it is likely an imaging artefact or a transient object like a satellite or aircraft causing one.

  3. Nothing bright enough to show up in that area, perhaps the reflection of a bright light source outside the frame.

  4. It’s a lens flare sourced from the bright flood light on the mirror opposite side of the image (bottom, off-center right).

  5. Circle is the coat hanger cluster, but I’ve got no CLUE what the thing the arrow pointing to is. Frankly it might be an imaging artifact. There were also about 5 star link satellites that traversed the region 10 minutes before or after ~23:20. Starlinks: 3074, 4625, 4617, 3058, & 4632

  6. Big-Imagination509 on

    How lucky. Uk doesn’t have anything other than outskirts which give somewhat a better look at the night sky.