Resistor Capacitor – stupid question

Hi,
I feel like a complete idiot, but need some assistance identifying a component. It may be a capacitor- please refer to the uploaded pic.
It has the shape of an LED ( a bulb and two legs) - the dome is gold, a thick orange stripe and a thinner black stripe. The base where the two legs join is brown.
Thanks

It's a ceramic capacitor

Thanks Calinoaia. Do you know the rating? what would i ask for at the counter.

It's only a black and a red stripe ? I cannot see a third one, the picture isn't focused on the capacitor.

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/capacitor/cap_5.html

Read here, to understand how to read the markings

The colours are:

The top rounded dome is gold, below is a orange stripe, then a thin black stripe and just below that where the legs connect, the base is brown.

Given the context of the batteries, my guess would be thermistor. But, I've never seen one with a color code. Try this, clip one probe of an ohm meter to the intact lead, and then see if you can contact any metal on the other side. and see if you get a resistance reading. If you _do_ read a resistance, then, get some heat on the thing (or some freeze spray) [without, of course, burning or freezing yourself ;] and see if the resistance changes and then over time returns to the original reading (or close to). If it does that, then it almost certainly is a thermistor.

If not, then no conclusion can be drawn. If you have a capacitance meter, try the same thing.

Thanks very much Steve. Looks like you hit it on the head! These look identical:

http://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/images/products/thermistor.jpg

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/250

Cool!

BTW: A little trick for getting an auto-focus camera to focus where you what it to focus:

Make a focusing target. The thing about autofocus is it doesn't always focus where you want it to, especially for macro shots like the one of the thermistor above the batteries. So, you need to give the camera something to focus on, or at least something to help you find the minimum focus distance. Auto focus likes lots of contrast and sharp irregular patterns. Get a small sheet of white card stock (a 3x5 index card folded in half should do the trick) and use a black felt tip marker to scribble on the card--not too much, you want to leave some white. Then get a dowel (or chopstick or pencil, etc.) and tape the card to the dowel so it resembles a fly swatter. This is your focusing target.

This works best if the camera is on a tripod, but with a steady hand it can also be done with a hand held camera, it there is enough light. While holding the card over the area that you want to photograph, making sure the card is level with the part you want in focus (i.e. the card should be the same distance from the camera as the object that you want to photograph. Then, press the shutter button half way (most shutter buttons have two levels of plunge when pushed. One for focus and white balance, and a final, deeper level for taking the photo. Hold it at the halfway position and then pull the focusing target away, exposing the object you want to photograph, and then press the shutter button the rest of the way down.

What this does is get the camera to focus on the target. Because the target presents a large equidistant surface, the camera has only one level to focus to. If you position the target at the same (or nearly the same) level as the object, the camera focuses at that level. By holding the shutter button down at the half way point, the camera stays focused on that point, and captures the object at the level you intend.

OR, if the camera can't focus at that distance, then back the camera away until pressing the button half way achieves a focus lock.

***this is nickel metal hydride battery AA size rechargeable 1500 milliamp capacity pair.*
the cap like device is a thermistor heat sensor in case
charging/discharging causes excess heating.