Bright planet in the West sky?

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Yeah, I have been noticing a bright "star" in the north western sky as well here in Waco. I suppose it could be the "north star," but I don't know.

Venus is in that region for you, so it's probably the same thing.

Aces where are you at? It could be, but Saturn is closest to the moon right now. If we know where you're at though we can plug it into the MyStars page and find out for sure.

[edit on 4/24/2007 by Zaphod58]

First of all, thank you for all the feedback, especially geo and solarskye. Thank you for the links.

What I've gotten so far is that the object in the western horizon is Venus. I saw it last night around early evening, but later last night the moon was in it's approximate position, along with a bright planet to it's left. That's what confused me, I thought that bright planet was the same planet that I saw earlier in the evening, but now I know that it's Saturn. Venus had moved out of view by that time. Saturn, as it seems, is traveling along with the moon. That takes care of that.

Now, how about that bright planet I've been seeing in the south? It hasn't changed position for as long as I've noticed it, which is a few months, at least. It's there, in the same spot, throughout the whole night, and it doesn't sparkle like a star. There is a star next to it, which sparkles (beautiful), and I do believe it's Antares. I think the planet might be Jupiter, but can anyone confirm this?

How close to the horizon is it? You have Sirius which sits right on the horizon, and you have Arcturus which sits fairly high up in the sky to the south of you. No planets but Saturn though that way.

It's about as high in the sky as the star, which I think to be Antares. The star seems to be sparkling red and blue, as if there is two of them (one behind the other), one much closer than the other.

Is it possible that it may be a satellite, or maybe the International Space Station?

[edit on 24-4-2007 by Impreza]

You know, one time last week I could've sworn it was a helicopter? It was so bright. Now I'm sure it's Venus after looking the astronomy websites posted here.

Originally posted by Impreza
It's about as high in the sky as the star, which I think to be Antares. The star seems to be sparkling red and blue, as if there is two of them (one behind the other), one much closer than the other.

Is it possible that it may be a satellite, or maybe the International Space Station?

[edit on 24-4-2007 by Impreza]

Satellites and the ISS can only be seen for a short time after sunset. Then the sun is too far down to reflect off them. It's PROBABLY Arcturus if it's high up in the sky.

Ah, good point. This is so confusing. I look at it every night and I still have no name for it. I guess now that I'm on the hunt, it's only a matter of time before I find out what it is.

Venus is in the Western sky tonight (I live on the East coast of USA). Saturn is West Southwest tonight at around 9:30pm EST.

That's from mystarslive.com

Originally posted by Impreza
Ah, good point. This is so confusing. I look at it every night and I still have no name for it. I guess now that I'm on the hunt, it's only a matter of time before I find out what it is.

I'm betting Arcturus. If you look at MyStarsLive and put in the Southern Horizon, Arcturus is pretty high up above the horizon. It's a bit to the southwest but it's pretty bright.

I think with the help of these websites, I'll be able to figure it out tonight. I'll look outside throughout the night to try and match what I see in the night-sky to what I see in that website. Thanks for all the help.

Let us know once you figure it out. I'm curious about it too.

Originally posted by Impreza
It's about as high in the sky as the star, which I think to be Antares. The star seems to be sparkling red and blue, as if there is two of them (one behind the other), one much closer than the other.

Is it possible that it may be a satellite, or maybe the International Space Station?

[edit on 24-4-2007 by Impreza]

A satellite or the space station would be moving at a pretty good speed to a ground observer. They would appear to be moving slightly slower than a commercial jet at 35,000 ft appears to move.

Back to the Original Post, the brightest thing in the sky lately (except for the Moon) has been Venus. It was high in the western sky around 9:00 last night here in Pennsylvania. It's dazzlingly bright. If you were looking up at all recently, you couldn't miss it.

[edit on 24-4-2007 by Soylent Green Is People]

Originally posted by AcesInTheHole
I've also been noticing something very bright in the western sky. I don't recall ever seeing a planet get that bright. It was right under the moon a few nights ago. Is it venus?

On Friday night, Venus was right under the crescent Moon. Depending on its proximaty to Earth Venus can be extremely bright. Venus is the brightest regular natural object in the night sky, except for the Moon.

Venus may have been near the Moon on Friday, but since the Moon rises an hour later every night, its location relative to the rest of the night sky will be different every night. Tonight the moon will be right below Saturn and tomorrow night it will be right above Saturn.

For at least a month now i have seen this bright thing in the sky every night. I'm pretty sure it's Venus but it's been around for what seems too long for a planet..so i don't know. But I think the bright thing i'm seeing is the same bright thing you're seeing.

Originally posted by lizziex3
For at least a month now i have seen this bright thing in the sky every night. I'm pretty sure it's Venus but it's been around for what seems too long for a planet..so i don't know. But I think the bright thing i'm seeing is the same bright thing you're seeing.

Yes Venus has seemed to be brighter than usual recently. Its rather odd, a bigger sparkle than it used to be?

Anyone have a clue whats happened? Is our atmosphere smoggier so it appears like this?

I have no answers, only more questions...

Biggie, it seems to me that everything seem to be increasing vibrancy. I initially noticed this about spring three years ago. Everything has an almost surreal appearance to it. For a while, I thought it was me, but my mother also noticed it.

Now, it seems some people are more aware of this "anomaly" than others. Because we would say thing like, "Boy, look at how lush and green that pasture looks," and some would just reply, "It just looks like grass in a pasture to me."



[edit on 24-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

[edit on 24-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Impreza, it's not Venus it's Neptune. I am sick and tired of people always saying "Oh it's Venus blah blah blah" well I don't buy it. Neptune has been neglected for the last time and now it's time the truth be told. I have a telescope and I am looking at it right now.

Then maybe you can explain how Impreza is seeing something that's NOT EVEN IN THE SKY from his/her location? The only two planets that can be seen from Lansing MI are Saturn and Venus in either the west or the south.

Sorry guys, I can't do anything tonight because it's cloudy. It looks like the sky will remain cloudy here until Friday night. I'll report back as soon as I get a chance.

Originally posted by Zaphod58

Aces where are you at? It could be, but Saturn is closest to the moon right now. If we know where you're at though we can plug it into the MyStars page and find out for sure.

I'm in NY. I have noticed this particular object for about a year now. I never recall it being this bright before though. I don't know any astronomers though and no one i talk to about it can explain it. I actually thought it was a satellite maybe but not sure.