Really bright star/planet to left and below the moon

Carra23

Hi

Just wondering what the really bright star below and to the left of the moon is. Clearly visible tonight and out on it's own.

Thanks

Carra

Proxima Centauri

That would be Jupiter, clearly visible for the next month or so, if you have a half decent telescope you can see Jupiter's four largest moons quite easily at the moment.

Lab_Mouse

Proxima Centauri wrote: »

That would be Jupiter, clearly visible for the next month or so, if you have a half decent telescope you can see Jupiter's four largest moons quite easily at the moment.

cool.actually seen that earlier and wondered what it was but unlike the OP I didnt think to post here:D

ast.enthus84

You can see the planet and some moons with binoculars that have a decent objective diameter.

My binoculars are 42mm and I find Jupiter and it's moons interesting to observe though there is no detail. I haven't tried 50mm but that's usually recommended as a starting point for astronomy binoculars.

Carra23

Proxima Centauri wrote: »

That would be Jupiter, clearly visible for the next month or so, if you have a half decent telescope you can see Jupiter's four largest moons quite easily at the moment.

Pretty cool . I thought it was the space station or something like that because I remember a friend said before tyhat soemtime syou can see it in the sky.

I don't have a telescope but I would consider buying one. How much would you have to spend to make it worth while ? I mean I wouldn't want anything too serious but at the same time if buying one for €100 is a waste of time I probably wouldn't spend much more than that.

jkforde

Carra, if you have a half decent phone you can download and run a small app called Sideralis on it and it'll show you the stars while out and about, very handy to learn the constellations..

http://sideralis.free.fr/download.html

Jupiter is looking gorgeous these days

backboiler

Carra23 wrote: »

I thought it was the space station

The space station moves quickly across the sky (crosses whole sky in about 2 minutes) and is about as bright.

Carra23 wrote: »

at the same time if buying one for €100 is a waste of time I probably wouldn't spend much more than that.

For that money you'd probably be better off looking for a decent pair of binoculars second hand. Good equipment is expensive but definitely not necessary for casual observing.

Beeker

Carra23 wrote: »

Pretty cool . I thought it was the space station .

Space Station not visible at the moment but will be again from Friday Oct 29th in the evening sky.

Linguo

Must brave the cold and get the scope out tonight if it's any way as clear as last night was!