We were observing the Great Conjunction with a telescope. After Jupiter/Saturn had set below the horizon, we turned to Mars, just south of the zenith.
Between kids looking into the scope, I looked into the eyepiece to verify that Mars was centered in the view and saw what looked like a satellite pass through the field of view - not too unusual but rare.
The little girl asked me "which one are we looking at?" I looked up from the scope to show her Mars but there were two VERY bright lights south of Mars by about 2 degrees and separated by about 1 arc minute. They persisted about 20 to 25 seconds and faded out.
There was no discernible motion to them. I pointed the scope to where they had been and searched but saw nothing but stars.
No planes in that area, no other unusual lights. We watched that area for about 10 more minutes but nothing else was observed.
Between kids looking into the scope, I looked into the eyepiece to verify that Mars was centered in the view and saw what looked like a satellite pass through the field of view - not too unusual but rare.
The little girl asked me "which one are we looking at?" I looked up from the scope to show her Mars but there were two VERY bright lights south of Mars by about 2 degrees and separated by about 1 arc minute. They persisted about 20 to 25 seconds and faded out.
There was no discernible motion to them. I pointed the scope to where they had been and searched but saw nothing but stars.
No planes in that area, no other unusual lights. We watched that area for about 10 more minutes but nothing else was observed.
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Virginia City
USA
20 seconds
20 seconds
39.27
-119.64
flash
NV
Occurred : 12/21/2020 18:00 (Entered as : 12/21/2020 18:00) Reported: 12/21/2020 8:58:01 PM 20:58 Posted: 12/23/2020 Location: Virginia City, NV Shape: Flash Duration: 20 seconds
We were observing the Great Conjunction with a telescope. After Jupiter/Saturn had set below the horizon, we turned to Mars, just sout