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Posted: 10/12/2020 6:26:04 PM EDT
[#1]
too many to list... I assume most can be explained by some aspect of light amplification but some are just plain weird...
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Posted: 10/12/2020 6:28:30 PM EDT
[#2]
I do also especially when camping. With very little light pollution the field is huge to the naked eye, add NV and the wow factor goes up 10 fold.
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Posted: 10/12/2020 6:29:39 PM EDT
[#3]
I cant wait for my 14 to come in. I imagine I'll be doing more stargazing than larping!
Hoping to see some UFOs
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Posted: 10/12/2020 6:38:32 PM EDT
[#4]
Almost every night! I've yet to see anything that elicited a genuine "OMFG that's a UFO response" but you'll see some unusual things every now and then. I assume it's space junk or what not creating weird reflections.
The 40 degree FOV can be irritating for finding meteors because you're always scanning but you will most definitely see more than possible with your naked eye. |
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Posted: 10/12/2020 6:56:22 PM EDT
[#5]
I don't know about unexplained, but I see a lot of interesting stuff. The first night I used mine I saw a train of 50+ satellites and thought I was seeing a convoy of UFOs or one giant space station with lights lol. I've seen a satellite that was spinning in circles with a light like a lighthouse. It was consistent, so I assume it's some kind satellite. I know Russia has one that is described as acting like a lighthouse. I also saw a cool meteor that shot across the sky and then broke up into smaller pieces that kept going.
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Posted: 10/12/2020 7:04:15 PM EDT
[#6]
Like the above, almost every time I used the NV to stargaze I see something I'd consider strange.
A lot of it is just that your visual horizon is extended so much, so planes that were at 40K feet, 200 miles away and invisible can now be seen. There are some stranger ones, like points of light that do u-turns. In know from satellite watching the geometry of it all can make it happen, but the few times I've seen it the lights have been moving way faster than satellites. Take the NV away from my eye and nothing, and there's no blinking like collision lights. I really have no idea what those are. |
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Posted: 10/12/2020 7:12:44 PM EDT
[#7]
Every night I put nv on i make it a point to look at the milky way. I never was able to see it before. Sometimes I can see it after taking the NV off cuz I'll know where to look.
My wife loves seeing shooting stars with them. See them quite often. At first i noticed a lot of weird things flying around. Then i realized it is almost always bugs or birds. You don't see all that crazy stuff flying with NV. Mainly on the ground with the bugs. I usually take my pvs14 to bonfires and whatnot to pass around the group and let everyone experience it too. |
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Posted: 10/12/2020 7:59:55 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Almost every night! I've yet to see anything that elicited a genuine "OMFG that's a UFO response" but you'll see some unusual things every now and then. I assume it's space junk or what not creating weird reflections. The 40 degree FOV can be irritating for finding meteors because you're always scanning but you will most definitely see more than possible with your naked eye. Time to upgrade those 9s to a set of 10s man 
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Posted: 10/12/2020 8:04:59 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Time to upgrade those 9s to a set of 10s man I was tempted when I saw the Corona-Panos to get the housing and stick some M890’s in it. But Solscud showed a video on IG and the lens flaring looked terrible. ETA: meant to say fish eye 
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Posted: 10/12/2020 8:05:59 PM EDT
[#10]
Quoted: Anyone else enjoy this? I've seen numerous meteors, some that seemed to grazed the atmosphere and continue on their way. I saw one recently that had an alternating brightness, I assume due to a flat side that was heating more than the rest. Anything unexplained you've seen? I have seen some seriously weird stuff. |
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Posted: 10/12/2020 8:35:38 PM EDT
[#11]
Absolutely love stargazing with and without a telescope. 3x or 5x lens with a PVS is superb!
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Posted: 10/12/2020 9:06:07 PM EDT
[#12]
Andromeda Galaxy is obvious under NODS. It's the farthest/largest thing we can see with eyeballs. It looks oblong because we're seeing it edge-on, like our own Milky Way when viewed from home.
Another one is Orion Nebula . It's located in Orions "sword". Much like myself, this is not actually a star, but a giant ball of gas. I go out all the time and don't see shit but a bunch of airplanes, satellites and shootin stars 
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Posted: 10/12/2020 9:47:13 PM EDT
[#13]
All the time, it’s one of my favorite things to do under NODs. Shooting stars and satellites are what I normally see, nothing too strange. Recently I’ve noticed a massive increase in the number of satellites. Also happened on a kind I’ve never noticed before. This type of satellite will pulsate with light and disappear momentarily, and only reappears when it flashes again. I know Jack shit about Satellites or why they glow, but this strobing effect is odd to me because I can’t think of any logical reason for it to strobe like that.
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Posted: 10/12/2020 10:04:52 PM EDT
[#14]
The satellite strobing is from the solar panels (or the body of the satellite) changing angle as it spins and reflecting the sun in the right spot.
The old Iridium satellites (they're gone now) used to have crazy intense reflections called Iridium flares, so bright they could be seen in daylight if you knew where to look. The new starlink satellites are pretty bright, and due to astronomer complaints they're working on a anti-reflective coating on the newer batches of satellites to dim them. I'm not sure if this will result in more strobe type effects since some parts probably wouldn't get that coating. |
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Posted: 10/12/2020 11:13:26 PM EDT
[#15]
It’s absolutely amazing. Shooting stars or meteors are normal.
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Posted: 10/12/2020 11:30:56 PM EDT
[#16]
Yep. However I work in the middle of nowhere and pretty regularly see the biggest green fireballs falling from the sky. At least every couple days. Looks like Roman candles on steroids.
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Posted: 10/13/2020 12:42:40 PM EDT
[#17]
I've really been enjoying stargazing with Nods this year.
Haven't seen anything unexplainable but the first time I saw SpaceX's Starlink I had a big WTF moment that lasted about an hour before I was finally able to look up on the internet what it was.
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Posted: 10/13/2020 2:27:38 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The satellite strobing is from the solar panels (or the body of the satellite) changing angle as it spins and reflecting the sun in the right spot. The old Iridium satellites (they're gone now) used to have crazy intense reflections called Iridium flares, so bright they could be seen in daylight if you knew where to look. The new starlink satellites are pretty bright, and due to astronomer complaints they're working on a anti-reflective coating on the newer batches of satellites to dim them. I'm not sure if this will result in more strobe type effects since some parts probably wouldn't get that coating. Possible explanation but I don’t think that matches what I was describing. The strobing is too consistent to be reflected sunlight. It strobes in a pattern and repeats with consistency. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 3:16:01 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Possible explanation but I don’t think that matches what I was describing. The strobing is too consistent to be reflected sunlight. It strobes in a pattern and repeats with consistency. I've seen the same thing. The object doesn't exist when not strobing, AKA: it's dark. It has a pattern of flashes with a second or so of complete darkness in between. I believe it's just space junk tumbling around up there. The tumbling/spinning of space junk can erratically "strobe" reflected sunlight back down to earth. As for strange things, I have seen something on several occasions: objects lit up as bright (if not slightly brighter than) satellites moving across the sky at really high speeds. They seem to cross from end-to-end of the horizon in 10 seconds or so. Basically, too fast to be satellites and too slow to be meteors. But, they have consistent straight line flight paths and I've always seen them move east-to-west. One time, I saw 3 of them side-by-side moving at the same speed as they passed by. Not sure if they are drones or what, but I cannot see them with the unaided eye. Definitely lots of cool stuff you'll see with NODs and stargazing. I've come to realize this is the most often use I have for them
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Posted: 10/13/2020 3:39:02 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Andromeda Galaxy is obvious under NODS. It's the farthest/largest thing we can see with eyeballs. It looks oblong because we're seeing it edge-on, like our own Milky Way when viewed from home. Another one is Orion Nebula . It's located in Orions "sword". Much like myself, this is not actually a star, but a giant ball of gas. I go out all the time and don't see shit but a bunch of airplanes, satellites and shootin stars I always wondered what that smudge was. Now I know it's Andromeda Galaxy. I stopped seeing the sky for a while due to smoke conditions, but now that it's back I all of a sudden see ZERO space junk and satellites. Before, I saw them every second. It was impossible to not see several everywhere I looked. It's kind of weird. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 3:41:31 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Possible explanation but I don’t think that matches what I was describing. The strobing is too consistent to be reflected sunlight. It strobes in a pattern and repeats with consistency. Same here. I saw one that was operating like a lighthouse in clear intervals with 100% consistency. It was very interesting. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:02:35 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Same here. I saw one that was operating like a lighthouse in clear intervals with 100% consistency. It was very interesting. Exactly. In my opinion what I saw was timed too well to be anything by chance. Debris reflecting could be a possibility but I’ve seen the same type of thing several times now and the strobe is always the same. Tumbling debris wouldn’t be as consistent for as long of a duration of time. First noticed it around May and just saw one a few nights back. Also the chances of seeing the exact same item tumbling through space on several occasions isn’t probable in my opinion. I’m thinking it’s a new kind of satellite, or maybe ET just wants to test out a new probe  Maybe I’ll pick up a God finger and try answering
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:12:04 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: too fast to be satellites... and I've always seen them move east-to-west. The apparent velocity of satellites and chootin stars can vary by direction. Our planet rotates to the east, unless you're a flat earther  . This is why everything (sun, moon and stars) raises up in the east and moves west. They're not actually moving west, we're moving east. Therefore an object heading east is moving with us and appears slow. Objects headed out west are moving opposite us and appear fast. I've sure seen some weird flashing satellites but remember some of these may be aircraft. Something like FlightAware or ADSB Exchange will identify most air traffic. There are many lighting configurations on aircraft but a few simple rules apply to all of them. The only FAA approved colors are white, red and green. Any other color ain't from around here  . All aircraft have navigation lights which are a solid red on left/port and green on right/starboard. Strobes come in all flavors. Most are simple on-off but some have unusual patterns like short-long-short or dim-medium-bright. To make matters even more confusing is that some are adjustable. If all else fails remember some aircraft are running IR only or even total blackout. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:18:45 PM EDT
[#24]
Also one my favorite things to do with my NODs. I live in one of the few officially designated “Dark Skies” preserves in the country. It’s already dark enough to see way more celestial morsels than in the “big city” with all the light pollution, but under NODs the night sky is mind blowing. Seen some of the same stuff already mentioned by others. The best so far however was Comet NEOWISE this summer. Biggest and nearest comet to Earth since Hale-Bopp 25 years ago. It was incredible.
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:28:10 PM EDT
[#25]
Probably a dumb question but are you guys just finding a dark area and looking up? Any technique here?
I know some have them paired with a telescope and a tripod. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:33:33 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Strobes come in all flavors. Most are simple on-off but some have unusual patterns like short-long-short or dim-medium-bright. To make matters even more confusing is that some are adjustable. If all else fails remember some aircraft are running IR only or even total blackout. My guess is IR only. I see absolutely nothing without the NODs. |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:37:57 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Probably a dumb question but are you guys just finding a dark area and looking up? Any technique here? I know some have them paired with a telescope and a tripod. even in a seriously light polluted area, gen 3 NV gives the eye an advantage - just look up, see all kinds of neat stuff (as long as its relatively CLEAR ).anyone have an explanation for this objects that look like satellites but appear to make tight 180 turns? |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 5:46:37 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: you guys just finding a dark area and looking up? Any technique here? Pretty much. It helps to get behind a mountain/hill to block unwanted light. IR filters work well for astronomical observation. Astronomy geeks love to hook up PVS-7 to their telescopes. The 2-in-1 lens setup works great 
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Posted: 10/13/2020 6:00:51 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Pretty much. It helps to get behind a mountain/hill to block unwanted light. IR filters work well for astronomical observation. Astronomy geeks love to hook up PVS-7 to their telescopes. The 2-in-1 lens setup works great PVS-7 astronomy |
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Posted: 10/13/2020 6:03:03 PM EDT
[#30]
love it do it nightly
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Posted: 10/13/2020 11:48:31 PM EDT
[#31]
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Posted: 10/14/2020 6:00:04 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Like the above, almost every time I used the NV to stargaze I see something I'd consider strange. A lot of it is just that your visual horizon is extended so much, so planes that were at 40K feet, 200 miles away and invisible can now be seen. There are some stranger ones, like points of light that do u-turns. In know from satellite watching the geometry of it all can make it happen, but the few times I've seen it the lights have been moving way faster than satellites. Take the NV away from my eye and nothing, and there's no blinking like collision lights. I really have no idea what those are. I see so much weird stuff like that on some nights, I was afraid my gear was malfunctioning. It's just too weird for me to process some nights. |
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Posted: 10/14/2020 6:23:13 PM EDT
[#33]
So for those of us that know nothing about astronomy or telescopes, but just recently picked up a PVS14, any good guides / resources for a telescope setup?
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Posted: 10/14/2020 6:59:25 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: even in a seriously light polluted area, gen 3 NV gives the eye an advantage - just look up, see all kinds of neat stuff (as long as its relatively CLEAR ).anyone have an explanation for this objects that look like satellites but appear to make tight 180 turns? My first night i found a blinking light that didn't move at all. Except it did move with the stars. So.... 
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Posted: 10/14/2020 9:19:23 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: So for those of us that know nothing about astronomy or telescopes, but just recently picked up a PVS14, any good guides / resources for a telescope setup? I can’t answer your question unfortunately but also wish I knew more. Unfortunately every time I try to educate myself I get overwhelmed with how stupid I am on the subject. What I can tell you is there are dedicated astronomy forums with members who use NV regularly. They are also some of the biggest tube snobs on the planet. |
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Posted: 10/14/2020 9:34:14 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My first night i found a blinking light that didn't move at all. Except it did move with the stars. So.... Perhaps it's a Geosynchronous Orbit Satellite. To my understanding these satellites are "parked" in one spot and don't appear to move. Also could be gas from Uranus. |
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Posted: 10/14/2020 9:41:44 PM EDT
[#37]
There’s a cool phone app I use called SkyView. It’s great for identifying stuff including the space station etc.
It has an augmented reality display setting that’s kind of neat plus a night mode that gives it a corny GP effect. |
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Posted: 10/14/2020 10:07:43 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Perhaps it's a Geosynchronous Orbit Satellite. To my understanding these satellites are "parked" in one spot and don't appear to move. Also could be gas from Uranus. Geos do a figure-8 move (slowly!) against the background, but it would be pretty unusual bordering on impossible to spot a geosync satellite with the naked eye. Distance to a LEO satellite is typically 90-200 miles, the distance to a geosync is literally more than 100 times that. |
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Posted: 10/15/2020 10:50:52 AM EDT
[#39]
I’ve seen the usual satellites and shooting stars, with the occasional big one thrown in, but a few nights ago I saw one that was magnitudes brighter and lasted much longer than the usual. I’d say 2-3 seconds and was easily as bright as the comet that recently passed.
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Posted: 10/15/2020 11:03:13 AM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There’s a cool phone app I use called SkyView. It’s great for identifying stuff including the space station etc. It has an augmented reality display setting that’s kind of neat plus a night mode that gives it a corny GP effect. +1, great app. |
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Posted: 10/15/2020 11:34:48 AM EDT
[#41]
I watched a huge owl float across the night sky. It was listing slightly towards starboard. With its wings at full spread and no movement it was a surreal type of experience.
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Posted: 10/15/2020 12:21:28 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I watched a huge owl float across the night sky. It was listing slightly towards starboard. With its wings at full spread and no movement it was a surreal type of experience. A couple years ago I was coyote hunting with a buddy with our backs to a large brush pile. During the calling I thought I heard something and I wasn't sure what it was. I paused the caller and looked around. I didn't see anything. Then I heard the loudest owl hoot I've ever experienced. It was literally a few feet above me from a random tree branch. Scared the living shit out if me. I was sitting down, but I swear I jumped off the ground. I turned my head and saw it before it fly off. It was an awesome experience! |
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Posted: 10/15/2020 12:53:05 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: A couple years ago I was coyote hunting with a buddy with our backs to a large brush pile. During the calling I thought I heard something and I wasn't sure what it was. I paused the caller and looked around. I didn't see anything. Then I heard the loudest owl hoot I've ever experienced. It was literally a few feet above me from a random tree branch. Scared the living shit out if me. I was sitting down, but I swear I jumped off the ground. I turned my head and saw it before it fly off. It was an awesome experience! What the fa was that! |
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Posted: 10/17/2020 11:10:40 PM EDT
[#44]
I don't make any pretensions about being an operator...I am old and slow. I use NV equipment for geeky stuff, seeing critters...
and my favorite, stargazing. Being able to see infrared lets you see tiny meteors. It is epic and THE reason I bought a L3 filmless white pvs-14. My goodness it is so much better than my old ANVIS gen 3 viewer it is ridiculous. One of the coolest things I have seen are moths all flying toward the moon in summer...think of ww2 bomber stream pics here. I had no idea of this before I got NV equipment. On some nights the number of insects milling around was ridiculous...and watching the local bats eat them was epic. Lots of weirdness in the sky too. Somebody has craft that move...unusually. Very cool. Putting a NV scope on a telescope is fun too. |
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Posted: 10/19/2020 11:26:45 AM EDT
[#45]
My wife and I stargaze together whenever there's something cool overhead.
It's a lot of fun. |
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Posted: 10/19/2020 11:52:27 AM EDT
[#46]
About four months ago I took the family south of town to see if we could catch the Starlink satellites, got a nice view w my Pitbull.
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Posted: 10/19/2020 12:54:52 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I can’t answer your question unfortunately but also wish I knew more. Unfortunately every time I try to educate myself I get overwhelmed with how stupid I am on the subject. What I can tell you is there are dedicated astronomy forums with members who use NV regularly. They are also some of the biggest tube snobs on the planet. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: So for those of us that know nothing about astronomy or telescopes, but just recently picked up a PVS14, any good guides / resources for a telescope setup? I can’t answer your question unfortunately but also wish I knew more. Unfortunately every time I try to educate myself I get overwhelmed with how stupid I am on the subject. What I can tell you is there are dedicated astronomy forums with members who use NV regularly. They are also some of the biggest tube snobs on the planet. I call them purists! Cloudy Nights is one of the forums and those guys do some amazing stuff. NV and telescopes have really become mainstream over there. 
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Posted: 10/19/2020 6:06:47 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I call them purists! Cloudy Nights is one of the forums and those guys do some amazing stuff. NV and telescopes have really become mainstream over there. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/19096/20170728_155801_resized-452745.jpg |
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