07-15-2011, 09:45 PM
Uh no, the reason that stars disappear when you look directly at them is that the cones in the central part of your retina are much less sensitive to light than the rods in the periphery. In daylight the rods are overdriven and basically lose their senstivity, leaving the cones to dominate the vision. In dim light the reverse happens - the cones are not sensitive enough so don't respond, whereas the rods are in their sweet spot so to speak and respond just fine to start light. The cones are concentrated in the central part of the retina, while the rods are more in the periphery. Thus you can see stars off to one side, but they will disappear when you look directly at them. Nothing magical like auras happening here.
As for auras, the only person that I knew who claimed to see them that wasn't just seeing afterimages almost certainly had synesthesia. And studies have shown that there is no consistency between the colors seen around objects (mainly letters or other symbolic abstraction, but sometimes faces) between different people. So that doesn't really mean they are seeing auras. So, I have never come across anyone that can really see auras, so it can't be as common as the original poster implies.
As for auras, the only person that I knew who claimed to see them that wasn't just seeing afterimages almost certainly had synesthesia. And studies have shown that there is no consistency between the colors seen around objects (mainly letters or other symbolic abstraction, but sometimes faces) between different people. So that doesn't really mean they are seeing auras. So, I have never come across anyone that can really see auras, so it can't be as common as the original poster implies.