i find this fascinating. from where i am situated in the world. I am seeing jupiter and venus close to each other in the sky to the west and mars to the south and east. thats as of yesterday. tonight. big thunder storm going on. but if the moon would have been in a quarter phase. would it be so bright in a camera shot? just stickin my neck out on that one?! also from where i live i have seen several brighter than normal areas of star clusters than usual.

Miltonlava and Feeling in AUS: I believe what you are seeing in the western (US) sky each night is the Planet Venus, although Jupiter is close by, bright too, just not int this pic - Venus is often mistaken for a UFO by uneducated observers. This is Not a Star. People sometimes see it shimmering and believe it is moving slightly, due to cloud movement and or just plain disorientaion as you stare at it. Lava, you took a great pic of it using some magnification and you picked up a distant star in the background too. Keep looking to the heavens, you may see something really moving someday - if it changes speed or direction, you may have something special there.

Venus is real Close to Earth now, quite bright in the western sky. Good viewing,

Steve