Sightings and Observation Database?

[mooeypoo]

Hey guys,

 

I saw a question about that on twitter and I was wondering if anyone knows any organizations/sites that do this. Where can I report a special sighting? Either a fireball or a unique event, or even just sighting something unique when observing the sky either with a telescope or with the naked eye..

 

Is there a place that collects such sightings?

 

Uhm, please note: this is a serious question. Please don't put anything about UFO Abductions (or similar), since those are not only unproven, but sites that promote them are usually totally uncritical of the data they collect. I'm looking for something that promotes science and amateur astronomer collaboration.

~moo

[ajb]

In the UK you can report things to the society of popular astronomy.

 

What you could do if you see anything "strange" is report it to your local amateur astronomy society. As you are in the US I suggest you contact the astronomical league and ask them for details of your local society.

[mooeypoo]

So it's just local societies all over the world? Do these societies collaborate through some medium?

 

My point is -- what if some major observation is spotted in multiple locations around the world? How can we get the best and most information about it if anyone reports it to their local branch only?

[ajb]

If it is genuine interest, the local society will know what to do next. They will pass that information on to larger conglomerates and to the professionals.

 

In the UK there is also the British Astronomical Association . Also there is the Federation of Astronomical Societies.

 

 

 

You also have the American Association of Amateur Astronomers. They would be glad to hear from you.

Edited June 8, 2009 by ajb

[mooeypoo]

I was thinking about making some centralized place for observations, where people can note the time and place they noted something (even not something too unique.. just.. a shooting star, or venus in a certain shape, etc) with a picture or a description.. then, this info can be cross-referenced with other people around the world, so you can learn what it is you saw and if other people shared your view that night from different angles around the world.

 

That's why I was curious about whether this information is shared. If you see a fireball, I imagine that at some point it gets quite an exposure online in blogs and sites, but wouldn't it be easier if there was one place to report these things and corss-reference the images and descriptions?

 

Just a thought.

[iNow]

Moo - I'm pretty sure you're after something like the National UFO Reporting Center, which has just such a database:

 

http://www.nuforc.org/

 

 

Direct link to the online database: http://www.nuforc.org/webreports.html

[mooeypoo]

precisely!

 

only not for UFOs, and for actual science.