Stars

A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations. The observable universe contains an estimated 10^22 to 10^24 stars. Only about 4,000 of these stars are visible to the naked eye, all within the Milky Way galaxy.

There are many potential explanations for sightings. We recommend eliminating the most common and mundane before jumping to less probable conclusions or you submit a report.

Resources

Object Trackers

Live flight tracking maps are available for monitoring airline traffic and trajectories in real-time or historically around the world.

FlightAware

Flightradar24

ADS-B Exchange

Marine Traffic

Space Launches

Planned launches occur regularly all over the globe. These tracks can help identify the potential missions or launches in your area.

SpaceLaunchSchedule.com

SpaceFlightNow.com

RocketLaunch.Live

Satellite Trackers

Satellite tracking can also be done in real-time with the aid of tracking maps. They are also helpful for tracking Starlink launches.

Heavens Above

Space Weather

There are a number of sites which track solar flares, magnetic storms, and other events which are helpful for eliminating explanations related to astronomic phenomena.

Spaceweather.com

Spaceweather.gov

Méprises Du Ciel

French site (with English translations) with resources and examples covering the most commonly observed phenomena and explanations for UFOs.