If you need assistance, please send an email to forum at 4hv dot org. To ensure your email is not marked as spam, please include the phrase "4hv help" in the subject line. You can also find assistance via IRC, at irc.shadowworld.net, room #hvcomm.
Support 4hv.org!
Donate:
4hv.org is hosted on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, this server costs and we rely on the help of site members to keep 4hv.org running. Please consider donating. We will place your name on the thanks list and you'll be helping to keep 4hv.org alive and free for everyone. Members whose names appear in red bold have donated recently. Green bold denotes those who have recently donated to keep the server carbon neutral.
Special Thanks To:
Aaron Holmes
Aaron Wheeler
Adam Horden
Alan Scrimgeour
Andre
Andrew Haynes
Anonymous000
asabase
Austin Weil
barney
Barry
Bert Hickman
Bill Kukowski
Blitzorn
Brandon Paradelas
Bruce Bowling
BubeeMike
Byong Park
Cesiumsponge
Chris F.
Chris Hooper
Corey Worthington
Derek Woodroffe
Dalus
Dan Strother
Daniel Davis
Daniel Uhrenholt
datasheetarchive
Dave Billington
Dave Marshall
David F.
Dennis Rogers
drelectrix
Dr. John Gudenas
Dr. Spark
E.TexasTesla
eastvoltresearch
Eirik Taylor
Erik Dyakov
Erlend^SE
Finn Hammer
Firebug24k
GalliumMan
Gary Peterson
George Slade
GhostNull
Gordon Mcknight
Graham Armitage
Grant
GreySoul
Henry H
IamSmooth
In memory of Leo Powning
Jacob Cash
James Howells
James Pawson
Jeff Greenfield
Jeff Thomas
Jesse Frost
Jim Mitchell
jlr134
Joe Mastroianni
John Forcina
John Oberg
John Willcutt
Jon Newcomb
klugesmith
Leslie Wright
Lutz Hoffman
Mads Barnkob
Martin King
Mats Karlsson
Matt Gibson
Matthew Guidry
mbd
Michael D'Angelo
Mikkel
mileswaldron
mister_rf
Neil Foster
Nick de Smith
Nick Soroka
nicklenorp
Nik
Norman Stanley
Patrick Coleman
Paul Brodie
Paul Jordan
Paul Montgomery
Ped
Peter Krogen
Peter Terren
PhilGood
Richard Feldman
Robert Bush
Royce Bailey
Scott Fusare
Scott Newman
smiffy
Stella
Steven Busic
Steve Conner
Steve Jones
Steve Ward
Sulaiman
Thomas Coyle
Thomas A. Wallace
Thomas W
Timo
Torch
Ulf Jonsson
vasil
Vaxian
vladi mazzilli
wastehl
Weston
William Kim
William N.
William Stehl
Wesley Venis
The aforementioned have contributed financially to the continuing triumph of 4hv.org. They are deserving of my most heartfelt thanks.
Registered Member #16
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554
All you'd have to do now is look up what typical wind patterns at upper altitudes are on fair weather days this time of year (easy, just wait for a fair weather day and check the aviation forecasts) and you could get a pretty darn good idea if thats a plausible position for the balloon ~3 hours after liftoff. If it seems like normal wind patterns are moving in the opposite direction, then you either need to look for a different possible launch location, or give serious consideration to buying a tin foil hat and a large quantity of MREs ;)
Registered Member #27
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058
I got a reply from the weather station and they doubted that it was one of their weather balloons. The picture is taken 1-2 hours after the balloon normally bursts and it must have moved in the opposite direction of the wind.
Registered Member #175
Joined: Tue Feb 14 2006, 09:32PM
Location: Sudbury, ON
Posts: 111
Could a piece of junk/meteor reentering the atmosphere at an angle so as to be pointed directly at you create a steady dot for that long? I'd think it would vary in brightness more, but you never know. In North America, anything like that would have stood a chance of having been tracked by NORAD; I don't know what agency does the same job over Europe, or if Scandinavian skies are prone to the same scrutiny. </shot in the dark>
Registered Member #659
Joined: Fri Apr 20 2007, 09:14AM
Location: SW Hertfordshire, UK
Posts: 75
I admit it - I'm responsible. I launched that potato month or so back, and it never came down. Seems like it's finally re-entered the atmosphere.
More sensibly, my knowledge of astronomy is little more than passable, but given that satelites have been ruled out, I support the balloon theory. But my guess is that rather than it being a weather balloon, it's a 'Sond balloon' which are ultra high altitude [in the area known as near space], and typically silver in colour. These can produce the relatively long term bright light you described - unlike a satelite, which is only likely to be visible for ~5 sec, and will be visibily in motion. The disappearance may be due to the relative movement of the sun, or the balloon so that the reflection is no longer visible in your region.
It's possible its the work of the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility launching from the Esrange facility at about 67.894N, 21.107E, not too distant from the location where it was seen [in astronomy terms]. With an easterly wind, or an appropriate field of view, it's far from impossible that that's your source.
Registered Member #84
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 01:06PM
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 47
I saw a program last night about high altitude balloons. They launch some from Sweden and they can stay aloft for weeks at 120,000ft and carry up to 8000lbs. Here is a link to one of the ones they talked about.
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the GNU GPL License. All work on this site, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. By submitting any information to this site, you agree that anything submitted will be so licensed. Please read our Disclaimer and Policies page for information on your rights and responsibilities regarding this site.
Astronomical mystery
