Bright planet in the West sky?

It could be either Saturn or Venus. Both are seen in the sky from NY, but I'm betting on Saturn. Saturn seems to be pretty close to the moon lately, and Venus is usually seen pretty low on the horizon just after sunset.

Here's a StarDate Online almanac for April 2007 Impreza.
stardate.org...
You can choose any month for stars and planet and also alot of stargazing tips.
Also a link to some cheap but good novice telescopes for ya.
www.protelescope.com...

I have noticed it too, and, although only based on my experience, I think it is Venus.

I have taken some photographs.

Because I cropped the original images the date was changed to today, they were taken in 22-04-2007.

Originally posted by biggie smalls
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?

Venus goes through phases like the moon, new, crescent, & full. It just so happens that it is nearly full, which is why it seems brighter.

Wow, the moon looks absolutely beautiful right now. It is accompanied by the planet Mars, it's just breathtaking. I checked the brightness of the moon and it is at 95% for us, wow.

Sorry to go a little bit off topic but has anyone seen that really bright yellow star above orions belt? Its been around for quite some time now, I just always assumed it was Holmes but apparantely that started fading away quite some time ago. I think its in the Western sky too so I thought Id reply here instead of starting a new thread

Anyway, I drew a little diagram to see if anyone could perhaps tell me what star or planet this is...



Its strange that I only really started noticing it at the time of Holmes' appearance. It also seems to have moved across the sky as the weeks have gone on. If you take a look at the diagram it was almost parallel to orions belt but has now moved NE slightly...

I dont know much about astronomy and the constellations in the sky so excuse me if its just venus or something. I was thinking Nibiru, maybe?

Are your sure it's not more orangey-red? That's roughly where Mars is at the moment - and it's currently one of the brightest objects in the sky.

The bright star below Orion is Sirius, the dog star, and brightest star in the sky. N Hemisphere sky is pretty impressive this time of year, even with a full moon

reply to post by Essan


Well, I guess that makes sense. It is more orange/red compared to yellow and has definitely advanced through the skies over the past 7 or 8 weeks. I guess distant stars wouldn't move this quickly across the skyline and away from their constellations, if at all?

What struck me though was that it made a very clear pentagon constellation in the sky. As it now turns out, Mars was at the very top of the pentagon and all other 4 stars were very bright and stood out in the sky. I guess it was Sirius that made up the left star? I thought it was some kind of message from the NWO

reply to post by Impreza


Are you familiar with Stellarium?
It's a wonderful little program - and it's free of charge.

Here:

Stellarium


P.S. If you ever type the URL yourself, be sure to type ORG - not COM (that's a different Stellarium).





[edit on 23-12-2007 by Vanitas]

reply to post by Vanitas


That is an excellent link. I have been to the site before, and it is very handy. (It's also a big hit with my grandchildren when they are visiting.)

Thanks for putting that up here for us all to use.

reply to post by NGC2736



Oh no - thank YOU for being grateful in such a heart-warming way...

Yes,
Last night I was thinking the same thing of how bright the planet was below the moon just after dusk. With almost a full moon it was very bright and I really could only see one other faint star at the time. I too at first thought it was a plane with its brightness and then I watched it for a min and realized it was a planet. I'm in Texas and it was about 10% above the horizon with the moon at about 30% above.

Originally posted by Vanitas
reply to post by Impreza

 

Are you familiar with Stellarium?
It's a wonderful little program - and it's free of charge.

Here:

Stellarium


P.S. If you ever type the URL yourself, be sure to type ORG - not COM (that's a different Stellarium).

No, I was not aware of that program. Thank you for posting it, I shall look into it later tonight.

I hope these clouds clear up, I want to look at the moon again tonight.

I'm from Portugal and today i noticed that bright light too.
I was thinking to myself if it is Venus.

But it is strange since i don't remember seeing it before.

No, I was not aware of that program. Thank you for posting it, I shall look into it later tonight.

Just download it and make sure your enter your coordinates.
I think you'll be pleased; I certainly hope so.

reply to post by Impreza


Well, planets revolve so it could be venus...

I have been observing them for awhile now. There are 2 planets visible with the naked eye. I think I remember hearing of this in the past. Seems like one could track their path. I don't keep notes of this type, but it could prove to be interesting.

reply to post by Impreza


its saturn can see rings

reply to post by AcesInTheHole


I looked at it through the telescope. It is white with small craters. It looks like a big comet. But, I know that it can't be. I googlad looking at planets through the telescope. I did not see anything that looked like it. I can't tell you what it is. I hope it is not what it looks like.