Originally posted by FrankieNinja
The circle around the moon is actually a layer of very thin ice crystals (aka cloud) It is so thin that you cannot see the cloud, however, the refraction of the light from the moon (reflected sunlight) causes what appears to be a circular "halo" effect. It usually means a change in the weather is coming. Usually just before a cold front.

you learn something new everyday..

last night i was out looking at the moon as welli am in sweden mid country,jupiter was out but to the left of the moon ,not the right i had a glance at it.from about 630pm to about 800 pm.posible my angle for you to compare based on your location o yes and that cloud around the moon made it harder to see jupiter but better vew of the moon.

Originally posted by Hellhound604
picture from Cartes du Ciel.

You can see the moon, and Jupiter below it...

edit on 9/11/2011 by Hellhound604 because: (no reason given)

very nice thank's

here's what the op wanted...
yes it's moved a bunch sideways, noticably.the moon went from 2 o'clock clear over to 10 o'clock or 9...in relation to jupiter...it moved the usual 50 minutes worth( 55 minutes of sun travel across the apparent sun path. I'm trying to figure the moon apparent travel north and south and how fast it can travel on that north south oscillation. Anyone know of any links that display this?,

Originally posted by bluloa

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
Jupiter is what is bright near the moon right now.
The moon's orbit and placement each day can't really be compared to Jupiter equally. Jupiter's orbit is very long and will appear to only move slightly each night, the moon will appear in dramatically different places each night.

But in this case Jupiter if thats what it is seems to be moving with the moon and staying in the same position, just off to the bottom right of the moon. Its almost as if where the moon goes it goes !

edit on 9-11-2011 by bluloa because: (no reason given)

that is completely normal.

The Moon generally moves at the same pace as the rest of the sky at night. I say "generally" because it does appear to move "more slowly" relative to the other stars, but it is at a very imperceptible pace.

That pace will be noticeable over the course of a 24-hour period, but not really noticeable to the eye while watching for a few hours in a given night -- unless you were taking precise measurements.

Tonight, the Moon will appear a little further "behind" (to the east of) Jupiter. The next night even more so. However, that movement is not easily perceived in one night.


EDIT TO ADD:
Jupiter, being a planet, will also move relative to the background stars. However, that movement is even less perceptible that the movement of the Moon. It takes several days (or even weeks) to easily perceive the difference in the location of Jupiter (or any planet) relative to the other stars.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

If it's not Jupiter, then where the heck is Jupiter?

..and what's it doing with Jupiter's moons?!

Its not near the moon now, not nearly as close as last night. It depends on what time it is, the moon is closer than Jupiter, of course it's going to move from our perspective faster than Jupiter moves.