The brain processes moving objects in some very interesting ways. For instance, this is one of my favorites... We ride the ferry boat quite often and I have tried this with quite a few people. When the ferry is underway if you stare at the horizon for a couple minutes, with the water surface waves and chop passing quickly through the lower half of your field of vision, and then abruptly turn and stare at a blank wall the lower half of your field of vision will have patterns moving through it for a few seconds like the water was. I think that is similar to the effect you were describing. I think jerky or wavy motions are nystagmus though > -----Original Message----- > From: Brad Young [mailto:brad.young@domain-engineering.com] > Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 9:09 AM > To: SeeSat > Subject: RE: Satellite observing and the autokinetic illusion > > Ted Molczan quoted: > > "looking at one moving light in a randomly dotted black sky, > the brain constantly tries to produce these patterns but > fails. What are thought to be oscillations in the satellite's > path are really the unconscious workings of the mind trying > to make sense out of an unfamiliar visual environment. The > result is, in effect, an optical illusion." > > I see the effect more pronounced with the ISS is a brightly > twilit sky, with few or no stars to dot the patterns. And I > would say the effect is strongly influenced by brightness and > speed - ie "slower" satellites barely discernable to the > naked eye like a NOSS formation seem to move smoother than > ISS or a low flying fast Cosmos rocket. The H-2A r/b (#27700) > to me is the jerkiest object I've seen, on a fast, bright > pass, seen with the naked eye. However, I agree it is an > illusion; and I've never noticed it using optical aid. > > Brad Young > TULSA 1 > COSPAR 8336 > 36.1397N, 95.9838W, 205m ASL > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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