The REALLY bright star / planet in the sky?

Hello all,

Just a quick question for my own curiosity more than anything. (no doom mongering here)

The REALLY REALLY birght start (planet?) that has been sitting in the western sky in the northern hemishpere, for what seems like AGES now. Does anyone know what this is.

It just seems to appear out of nowhere, and has stayed there. ever since. I see it at home in Mexico. I see it at work here in Europe. I have no idea what it is. but it is always there. and BRIGHT.

Recently, it may be my imagination, but it seems to be getting brighter. Tonight i was on my balcony having a smoke and I could swear is seems to be orange as was twinkling. When my eyes soft focused it was almost like there are two points of light,.However that is nothing serious as my eyesight is rubbish!

Anyway. any insight would be appreciated, just so I have one less thing to ponder.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


Probably Jupiter but without a picture of it I'm just guessing that it's jupiter.

Venus is very bright in the western sky after sunset.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


If you have a smart phone download google sky (iphone or droid) point your phone at the star/planet in question and it will tell you what it is

reply to post by JakiusFogg


It is Jupiter. See this image below for an example that I posted to a similar thread a few months ago. This is actually a popular subject. The fact is that your eyes cannot measure the real luminosity of an object in outer space. If you Google around a bit you can find some respected websites where amateurs post apparent brightness on a given day. GL

Jupiter isn't in the western sky though it rises easterly and is actually very high in the sky at present, more like Venus, and that's only slightly westerly.

Sometimes Jupiter and Venus are visible and extremely bright. I noticed this a few months back and thought that it was abnormally bright as well. Then I pulled out Google sky. Works well, cures curiosity. Whats weird though, is that this is something I have never noticed before. I'm assuming that both stars have been visible for quite sometime. Is this the case or is this something new?

reply to post by JakiusFogg

If you install a piece of free software called Stellarium you will never have to ask this question again. If you give it your rough geographical location it will "paint" a perfect picture of the night sky at your location with labels.
Stellarium

Download Stellarium, and input your location.

Last time it was clear enough at night here, Jupiter was more east, Venus is south, I just looked at Stellarium, I have a daytime Venus right now.

I can usually see Fomalhaut also, it's very big and bright, although I haven't looked for it lately. I'll have to bring up the program after dark tonight.

Many big bright ones up there, especially if the sky is really clear.

Phage is right - it's Venus. Venus starts peek-a-boo'ing at around 4:30 pacific time. I'm in Los Angeles - it starts getting brighter at twilight, and it's also in my Southern sky.

Originally posted by smurfy

Jupiter isn't in the western sky though it rises easterly and is actually very high in the sky at present, more like Venus, and that's only slightly westerly.

Jupiter shines from dusk until after midnight all though January 2012. Because Venus – the sky’s brightest planet – sets in the west-southwest by around mid-evening, that leaves Jupiter to lord over the late evening sky all through January. Jupiter transits – that is, reaches its high point in the sky – at roughly 7 p.m. in early January and at sunset by the month’s end.

After soaring to its highest point, Jupiter then descends into the western half of the sky. Look for Jupiter to set in the west earlier each night as January approaches February. Jupiter sets in the west around 2 a.m. in early January, and around twelve midnight by the end of the month. As Jupiter sets in the west, look for Saturn to rise in the east.

earthsky.org...

Looks like it sets in the west, each night through January and February 2012

reply to post by snowspirit


Here's a view from Charleston, SC tonight (minus the clouds of course) using Stellarium.



It's quite a handy program for this sort of stuff.

reply to post by Mapkar


It's just 3:00 here, so I guess Venus is slowly moving west. Here, on my stellarium, it's still to the left of south.
I just tried to upload, but I think my screen pic was too big, or something. It didn't load.

Good program, though.

Thanks for the tips guys, I will check it out

I just didn't think that planet stayed visible in the sky for this long!

maybe its because i don't remember seeing this long. But that could be because it was always cloudy in the UK, so i never noticed it before now.

Originally posted by mileslong54

Originally posted by smurfy

Jupiter isn't in the western sky though it rises easterly and is actually very high in the sky at present, more like Venus, and that's only slightly westerly.

Jupiter shines from dusk until after midnight all though January 2012. Because Venus – the sky’s brightest planet – sets in the west-southwest by around mid-evening, that leaves Jupiter to lord over the late evening sky all through January. Jupiter transits – that is, reaches its high point in the sky – at roughly 7 p.m. in early January and at sunset by the month’s end.

After soaring to its highest point, Jupiter then descends into the western half of the sky. Look for Jupiter to set in the west earlier each night as January approaches February. Jupiter sets in the west around 2 a.m. in early January, and around twelve midnight by the end of the month. As Jupiter sets in the west, look for Saturn to rise in the east.

earthsky.org...

Looks like it sets in the west, each night through January and February 2012

edit on 11-1-2012 by mileslong54 because: (no reason given)

Yes, I didn't ask, but I was presuming our man would be long in beddie byes before Jupiter was into the west. It's 21.44 pm here now and Jupiter is overhead.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


Not sure if this is what your seeing but here in the southern California desert the star Sirius is very prevalent. It actually twinkles red and blue. It's the brightest star in the night sky.

Sirius

reply to post by smurfy


Yes, was looking for the moonrise last nightfall and Jupiter was high and bright before dark, opposite the sun that's why I was looking that way, looking east.

It is most likely the planet Jupiter. It is very bright almost all night long and rises in the early evening hours. If you ever get access to a telescope, try to view it and if it has four bodies on its sides, those are its moons. That's usually a pretty good indication that you are indeed looking at Jupiter. The star Sirius also rises from.. I'd say south east(?) at around this time as well. It is VERY bright and flashy which threw me off when I first started doing amateur astronomy and I had to view Stellarium because it was bright enough to be a planet to my untrained eye.

I would have to agree that its Jupiter. It rises in the east ish and sets in the west ish. Venus is also bright, but it hasnt been visible for as long as Jupiter has this year.

Originally posted by JakiusFogg

maybe its because i don't remember seeing this long. But that could be because it was always cloudy in the UK, so i never noticed it before now.

Well Venus changes, sometimes you can only see it in the morning, and sometimes only in the evening. This is probably why people are always surprised when they all of a sudden see it when it was not there for months before.