Beautiful Lone Star in the Southern Sky on the Eastern US Seaboard

All you astronomy experts I hope can identify the beautiful shinning star in the southern sky in the eastern seaboard, New York area about 5 o’clock tonight.

A gorgeous, lonely, very bright shinning creature so close one could for a second mistake it for a UFO...with the dark blue background of the heavens against it...was awesomely beautiful

I think it was Venus has anyone else seen it?

reply to post by Willtell


Yep! Seen it every night lately.. Very bright! Honestly I haven't ever seen anything like it.. Im in Las Vegas btw and its clear as day in the southwestern sky..

Behold the beauty and be in aw of the majestic lady Venus.

SevenOhhTwo
Im in Las Vegas btw and its clear as day in the southwestern sky..

Worth noting that you can actually see it during the day.
At sunset, when you first see it, line it up with some kind of pole or tree so you know where to stand the next evening.
And the next evening, stand there a bit earlier.

Eventually, because you know where to look, it can be seen in broad daylight.
But you do have to know exactly where to look.

Is it just me ot does it seem to be brighter than ever this year?

ItCameFromOuterSpace
Is it just me ot does it seem to be brighter than ever this year?

Actually, my boyfriend noted the same thing. I also told him that the brightness will vary depending on Venus' phase in the sky.

VoidFire

ItCameFromOuterSpace
Is it just me ot does it seem to be brighter than ever this year?

Actually, my boyfriend noted the same thing. I also told him that the brightness will vary depending on Venus' phase in the sky.

I believe that, I am sure its the accepted theory behind it and makes sense, but its been ever so blindingly bright the last several years; if you ask me. I wonder how long a Venus "PHASE" lasts... I guess I am off to google.

reply to post by TheSparrowSings


Yeah, it's been so bright that it looks like an object in our atmosphere. I think that's why it's been mistaken as a ufo recently.

For the last few days, Venus was at its brightest. But it moves relatively quickly in its orbit around the Sun, so you will see its position change as it moves closer to the Sun. From second half of Januray 2014 you will see it in the east before sunrise (the "morning star").

Venus, of course, has been known since antiquity, and is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. So it's kinda funny when adult people say they saw it for the first time in their life.

Venus is dazzling bright, but it's not any brighter than it's always been. It can appear less bright when it's further away from Earth, or due to atmospheric conditions.

en.wikipedia.org...

Stellarium is a great free planetarium software that shows what's up in your sky in real-time.