Bright Star-like object in night sky

i've seen this for about three years and surely it's getting brighter,i live south california.three years ago i thought it was a helicopter flying really high.but it only shows itself somewhere in late november.does anyone have a telescope?

reply to post by Phage

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thank you from Maine. It is now 7:20 pm., and very cold, but I don't ever remembering seeing such a bright planet. Beautiful. I had a small very inexpensive telescope when I was a child, but it could see the craters on the moon, wish I had it now.

Im almost positive its not venus, im not entirely sure however, its the brightest thing i have seen in the night sky in a long time, and it is getting brighter, its really weird

same here in germany:

my.opera.com...

it keeps my attention as well, every time I see it, It's huge!!!(here in Holland)

i have noticed it also and i live in scotland!! first time i saw it took no notice but it has gotten brighter over the past ew weeks, and seems to have gotten larger also, hmm maybe worth keeping an eye on that one peace

It's Venus. For those who are wondering about the changes in brightness, some basic astronomy (I'll try not to be too technical).

Venus, also know as the Evening Star and Morning Star, becomes brighter/dimmer and moves higher/lower in the sky during its rotation of the sun. At maximum brightness it will outshine any star in the sky and appear during dawn or dusk as a brightly shining star. (Personally, I have even seen it during daylight, just before dusk or dawn.)

Right now it appears high in the western sky at dusk and is at its greatest brightness.

I 'm in Istanbul and we see it every night too. Seems so huge and bright. Some said it was the ISS reflecting the sunlight but I suspect it is Venus, but not so sure.

I live just outside of Chicago and have been seeing this also, I am always looking up in the sky and don't ever remember seeing what Im seeing the last Two months or so.
And what I find odd is that there is no media attention. What ever it is it is Bright.
Thank you OP.

Preston.

I've been seeing it for about two months now and it continues to get brighter. Although I have no clue what it is, I'm skeptical it's Venus..

I live in North Carolina.

I looked on Google sky and checked where it should be. A bit southeast of Orion, and it's location should be relative to where Sculptor is, but I still don't see any object that matches it's brightness.

A reason why I believe it's not Venus though is because Venus usually has a orangish light to it, but this one is actually more blue than orange.

I'm just astounded that so many members here have reached their age of enlightenment, without ever knowing the wonders of the heavens around them. Venus and the rest of our Solar System, so wonderful. Read about it and understand it. Watch it and marvel. It's better than anything you can invent.

WG3 (Slightly drunk)

reply to post by DangerDeath

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Now I am not an astronomer by any means, but I have to correct you! I have been observing this bright object in the skys of Chicago and it has been doing some wierd things. This has been for more than 6 months. I am not kidding you on the elapsed time. I first noticed when this bright object had a smaller bright object (this object was bright also) that accompanied it like a little brother. The two objects were always relatively close to one another some times even showing close to the moon. It looked like the two objects formed a perfect line segment. Both objects would be seen shortly after sun set between 5pm and 6pm then rotate in the viewing sky leaving the horizon around 8pm. I noticed the smaller object was on top of the presently seen larger bright object for several months September thru November. Proof of this observation to an acurate marker of time was the Monday night football game Chicago played in Minniappolis. The camera man took a view of the Minniappolis' downtown skyline and behold I saw the same formation of the two objects right above a tall building. I was elated to see that becuase I received the opportunity to see it in another area other than Chicago. Then exactly two days after viewing the game-back home in Chicago it was Wednesday-I noticed the objects changed formation from months of being stabalized in a fixed patterned. I was shoked at this I couldnt believe my eyes the smaller bright object then was to the right of the larger bright object!!! Thats not all! I began to study what was happenning every night-this was relatively in the month of December. Everyday the smaller object will INCREASE its distance from the larger still standing object until I was unable to observe it any longer in the night sky-the smaller object actually faded by Late December. Now this large bright object stays in the night sky for hours!! Beginning at sun set until the wee hours of 11pm! I dont think that is Venus if we are only privilaged to see it just after dusk then fades shortly after. This event is something big and should be seriously considered to be thoroughly investigated!

Thanks for your time

Help me out a bit.

I don't ever remember Venus being so big, so bright and so easily visible for so long before.

It is not just me. I have people commenting on the presence of this big bright light in the sky every night and wondering what it is.

If it is Venus and has always been there an visible, why is it such an odd sight for so many people to be commenting on it.

If it is Venus and it has not been this visible before why now?

reply to post by Anonymous ATS

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I to have been watching this star its not venus or any other planet it eminates light different colors and the light it seems more intense and then it will dim down a bit .planets reflect light they dont make it as this is..

Hi. I cannot remember venus being this bright, or seemingly growing as it has. I have commented, as have others on its unusual prominence, with no one else remebering it as such. I have continuously stated it is Venus, but again, I have never seen it like this...so much I have wondered, "what in the hell is that?" I mean, it's the brightest "star" NONSTOP every night. Its illumination is incredible. Man, this is cool.

ColoradoJens

Guess what,
I am in Greece and this star has caught my eye for some monthys now too.
Thing is i don t know a professional astronomer to discuss about it.
The other thing is that i don t think any professional astronomer is posting here either....

Hell in a hand basket, some of you seem determined to have a non-logical explanation for a perfectly normal thing.

The VERY BRIGHT object you are seeing around dusk is the planet Venus.

Other objects seen at around the same time are probably Mercury or Saturn. (Without checking current star charts for your location I cannot say for sure.)
What I can say for sure is that the bright object you are seeing (given the locations of your sightings (from your posts)) is not sinister in any way. It IS Venus. Other objects seen moving with it are other planets. If you regularly read astronomy magazines you can follow the movementy of the planets easily.

Give me a while and I will post a few photos of Venus and other planets in conjuction (in a line) that I took a few years ago.

I'm from Venezuela and I've being seeing the same thing in the sky over here! it's incredibly bright compared to other planets/stars I've seen before. I don't think that's venus... it behaves too strangly to be a planet.

I was staring at it the other day, and it suddenly stopped :S I couldn't see it anymore! strange huh? for an object so bright to just suddenly stop.

Something else that caught my attention, yesterday I was looking at the night sky as usual and I saw IT, but I also saw another one, a bit smaller and shinning different colors. Blue, red, green, all colors intermittently... what could it be?

From this thread I can see that EVERYBODY in different parts of the world is seeing it not just people from the northern/southern hemisphere or whatever... anyway... please keep sharing your accounts.

[edit on 8-2-2009 by aboveus87]