Light burst from ALTAIR in the 1970's?

STARNIGHTER · Post #1by **STARNIGHTER** » 12.02.2007, 19:15

Does anyone who's a seasoned observer(i.e.older...haha) recall strange reports of sudden bright bursts of light coming from Altair in the early 70's? There was some chatter about it in various astronomical groups in the midwest, but nobody could figure out what it was.

I myself, as part of an astronomical society, did witness a short but bright burst of light coming from the general direction of Altair in May of 1970, and a couple more times within the next few weeks.

Altair was not known to be eratic in output, but now that I've joined this forum, I'm curious to know if anyone else out here is familiar with this phenomenon, or recalls having heard about this in the 1970's?

Hungry4info · Post #2by **Hungry4info** » 15.02.2007, 00:19

Unfortunately, neither an arXiv nor Google search reveals anything relevant.

STARNIGHTER · Post #3by **STARNIGHTER** » 15.02.2007, 14:18

Yes, most everyone back then could not explain these light bursts. Nobody had reason to suspect Altair, since it was classified as a fairly stable star. A reasonable amount of people did witness this, including myself, but no explanations were offered to resolve the mystery.

Oh well.....as long as I don't see this happen when using Celestia, I'll be satisfied(haha). Thanks for the reply!