What is the large star next to the moon?

a reply to: Sabrechucker

Download this Stellarium

You can see what is in the sky from your location or others and change date & time



Or track things like ISS

originally posted by: Sabrechucker
a reply to: FlyingFox

Doesn't it seem that there is more going on up there the last few years? Discount the drone activity, I remember when the North star really stood out..I couldn't even tell you where it is on a clear night.

I'm in a relatively good area, and have a 'scope...but I'm pretty lazy. Catching the ISS once in a while takes an intense amount of planning and effort for me. None the less, it does seem active up above. The very best was the lunar eclipse from last winter. I was down south and avoided the clouds. That was pretty intense. We had a solar eclipse 2 years ago in the middle of the day in summer. Everything was grey outside. I went for a ride in my convertible, it was literally surreal. Did a pop-in at the boro building to freak them out too. It was great.

a reply to: FlyingFox

So what is causing the chaos up there? I am not well versed on the subject but, I've been watching the sky my whole life.
After shift around 9:30 or so EST I take my dog for a walk every night. My orientation would be NE to start and SE on the walk home. It seems that the North star I grew up with is now the South Star. It was mentioned that I am seeing Jupiter but, this "star" is in addition, and further right to "Jupiter" So I have the Moon..Jupiter to the immediate right and then a brighter star right of that.

a reply to: wmd_2008

I will, Thanks!

a reply to: Sabrechucker

No chaos, everything is working as it should like a perfectly predictable celestial clock.

originally posted by: Sabrechucker
a reply to: FlyingFox

So what is causing the chaos up there? I am not well versed on the subject but, I've been watching the sky my whole life.
After shift around 9:30 or so EST I take my dog for a walk every night. My orientation would be NE to start and SE on the walk home. It seems that the North star I grew up with is now the South Star. It was mentioned that I am seeing Jupiter but, this "star" is in addition, and further right to "Jupiter" So I have the Moon..Jupiter to the immediate right and then a brighter star right of that.

Antares is a relatively blight star that is currently to the right of Jupiter as you would view it at 9:30 PM.

However, as I said in an earlier post, the moon moves independently from the rest of the sky, so while the Moon was next to Jupiter the first night you mentioned in in your OP (night of June 16), the Moon has since moved eastward across the sky, and is moving away from Jupiter.

By tonight (June 19), the Moon will be close to Saturn, not Jupiter -- although the brightness of the Moon might somewhat obscure the brightness of Saturn. And the Moon rises later and later every night by 45 minutes later every night on average. So if you are walking your dog at 9:30 PM, you likely won't see the Moon like you did on previous nights, because it won't rise until about 10:40 tonight.


As for the North Star (Polaris),it has never been an exceptionally bright star in our sky. So if you remember seeing a very bright North Star (bright like Venus, Jupiter, or Sirius) when you were younger, then you were probably misidentifying something else as the North Star.

originally posted by: FlyingFox

originally posted by: Sabrechucker
a reply to: FlyingFox

Doesn't it seem that there is more going on up there the last few years? Discount the drone activity, I remember when the North star really stood out..I couldn't even tell you where it is on a clear night.

I'm in a relatively good area, and have a 'scope...but I'm pretty lazy. Catching the ISS once in a while takes an intense

Sorry but it doesn't take much effort check ISS tracker software/app look up and use your eyes

a reply to: Sabrechucker

Here is the sky tonight from my location Polaris the North Star is the one with the circle round it.