Bright Star in the South

YungJoshy

Can anyone tell me what it is? Have a feeling it's Venus.

It's the first star in the sky every night. It's in the south at the moment. I'd say you'd see it from half 8 onwards. You'd see it at dusk.

Thanks.

thecommander

Saturn was visible South last week, might be that.

John mac

YungJoshy wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what it is? Have a feeling it's Venus.

It's the first start in the sky every night. It's in the south at the moment. I'd say you'd see it from half 8 onwards. You'd see it at dusk.

Thanks.

Venus is in the West in the evening.

could be Spica, more like Saturn though,

YungJoshy

John mac wrote: »

Venus is in the West in the evening.

could be Spica, more like Saturn though,

Oh cool. Thanks.

Popoutman

If this star is the first one to come out and visible in dusk, I'd be more likely to say it's Venus, and there being a mistake in the orientation.

Can you be sure that the star is in the south?
How many hand-widths is it above the horizon, and at what time have you seen it?

Regards
Cathal.

Captain Chaos

There is two bright stars that appear first at dusk every night the past few weeks. The very bright one to the west is Venus and there is also a fairly bright one to the south but it's not as bright as Venus.

YungJoshy

I've been told it's Venus but just wanted to make sure. Well last night I seen it at 9.01pm exact, but I'm sure you'd see it earlier, It's about one and a half hand widths above the horizon in my view anyways, and I'm quite sure it's the south/ south-east.

John mac

YungJoshy wrote: »

I've been told it's Venus but just wanted to make sure. and I'm quite sure it's the south/ south-east.

If its south or south east its NOT Venus.


Venus is visible just above where the sun goes down (west north west)

TwistsAndTurns

John mac wrote: »

If its south or south east its NOT Venus.


Venus is visible just above where the sun goes down (west north west)

I'm new to all this but love to look at a clear sky so if I'm in the south of Ireland an look up WNW am I not looking at Venus at about 9pm tonight.

backboiler

TwistsAndTurns wrote: »

I'm new to all this but love to look at a clear sky so if I'm in the south of Ireland an look up WNW am I not looking at Venus at about 9pm tonight.

The Earth is small enough so it doesn't really matter where you are on it, the planets and stars are in the same direction for everyone.

Yes, if you look in the WNW (where the Sun sets these days) in the hour or so after sunset and see a bright point of light very slowly following the Sun in the sky, that'll be Venus. For some reason my graphics driver isn't allowing me to start Stellarium to see the exact positions and timings but the directions should be close enough to be useful.

Moving up and to the left, Mars is still high in the sky in a southerly direction. It's not quite straight overhead but you'll need to bend your neck up.

Moving down and further left again, Saturn is also nicely visible these nights. With a modest magnification, maybe 10-20x you should be able to make out the rings.

If you keep a mental note of the path the Sun takes through the sky on a given day you'll find the visible planets roughly along that same path across the sky that night. These planets (and Jupiter) tend to be among the brightest things in the sky so if you have an idea where to look you should be able to identify them handy enough.

YungJoshy

Yes, if you look in the WNW (where the Sun sets these days) in the hour or so after sunset and see a bright point of light very slowly following the Sun in the sky, that'll be Venus. For some reason my graphics driver isn't allowing me to start Stellarium to see the exact positions and timings but the directions should be close enough to be useful.

I knew it

Calibos

Look out the window at 12 tomorrow afternoon. See where the sun is? Thats south. Face the sun and stick your arms out. Your left arm points east and your right arm points west. Does your right arm point in the direction you see the bright 'star' at dusk? If yes, then its Venus. If the 'Star' is where the sun is at 12 in the afternoon then its Saturn you are seeing in the south at dusk and if so God Bless your eyesight. I wouldn't be able to pick it out till the sky is nearly dark. Its not as bright as usual this year because the rings are edge on to us. When the rings are more face on and reflecting more sunlight back at us Saturn does be a lot brighter.