Very Bright star left of Moon

p.oconnor

Hi all,


Is there any chance anyone knows what star is currently to the left of the moon, it is by far the brightest star in the night sky, almost as bright as the moon. It has caught all of our attention and as a total novice it would be nice to know what it is.


Patrick

Sparko

Hi Patrick,

I think it's Venus.

Leonidas BL

Yep Venus

Mrs Sarkozy

I cant see the moon. But the brightest star in the sky south/south west is Jupiter. According to the App (is that what you call it) on my HTC phone it is anyways

namloc1980

Yup Venus. Not Jupiter which would be higher up in the sky.

p.oconnor

Thanks lads interesting to know, have that app on the iphone but gps slightly off so cant read with accuracy. Is there any other method of accurately pinpointing stars and planets?

namloc1980

p.oconnor wrote: »

Thanks lads interesting to know, have that app on the iphone but gps slightly off so cant read with accuracy. Is there any other method of accurately pinpointing stars and planets?

Stellarium is excellent!

p.oconnor

Thanks lads for all the help

lolie

Worth looking out again this evening as they should be closer together.

Also anyone with a smartphone should download the Stellarium or Astroller apps, handy to have.

coylemj

Three day old Moon will be to the upper right of Venus this evening. The Moon will then continue on it's merry way and will be close to Jupiter on the nights of Sun. 29th & Mon. 30th. First Quarter is Tue. Jan 31st.

tricky D

Input your location on the Heavens Above website > Whole Sky Chart

Oscar Bravo

Evening all,just a quick question,was out there for a walk under clear skies in Castlebar.Nice bright star low in the sky to the West,what is it? Nice night for viewing.No wind and fairly mild.

muskyj

that was the planet Venus. can't be missed in the western sky at the moment.

scully74

Jupiter

MeteoritesEire

Jupiter and Venus are still both in the sky and very close to each other--Venus is brighter by many magnitudes--Jupiter sets at 23:02 and Venus at 23:06 tonight

Elmer Blooker

They will at their closest next Wed the 14th, what a shame we live under a permanent blanket of cloud in this country though.

MeteoritesEire

I take it you inadvertently omitted the word 'be' from your reply ie they will be at their closest

---

indeed
and indeed about the seemingly permanent blanket cloud too-I must add though that I consider myself lucky to be in remote Donegal and when the sky is clear the starlight is stupendous--some of the best I've ever seen

Elmer Blooker

Venus and Jupiter only 3 degrees apart tonight and we'll miss what is certainly the conjunction of our lifetime! It's very hard to take, it really is - it doesn't matter whether it's an aurora, the Perseids or the Leonids, there's always that blanket of cloud to ruin everything.
* Donegal was lucky to see the recent aurora and Mayo too I think?

Tenger

I got this shot last Thursday, hopefully tonight will be a bit better. Although looking outside at the moment it doesn't bode well for any break in the cloud later...


Aren't those stars a bit bright? by tearbringer, on Flickr

coylemj

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

Venus and Jupiter only 3 degrees apart tonight and we'll miss what is certainly the conjunction of our lifetime!

Don't believe the hype in the press, there's an even closer conjunction between Jupiter & Venus on June 30th 2015.

coylemj

And there will be a triple conjunction on May 25-27 next year involving Mercury, Venus and Jupiter though they will be very low in the west after sunset.

On Stellarium, set a date & time of 26-05-2013 at 22:15 and look in the western sky. Sunset in Dublin will be at 21:35.

gkell2

coylemj wrote: »

Don't believe the hype in the press, there's an even closer conjunction between Jupiter & Venus on June 30th 2015.

This is true however if readers like the online orrery and can become accustomed to putting the ballet of motions between Jupiter,Venus and the Earth in context to each other and to the central Sun,they would get a better feel for why this astronomical event is different than the one in 2015.

The angular distance between Venus and the central Sun (elongation) is greater now than it will be in 2015 so that being further from the glare of the central Sun this shows up for the observer as a greater contrast between the brightness of Venus and Jupiter in the darkness whereas they will be slightly closer to the glare of the central Sun in a few years time .

http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ssm/graphics/elongation.jpg

http://math-ed.com/Resources/GIS/Geometry_In_Space/java1/Temp/TLVisPOrbit.html

The planets vary in brightness,and especially the outer planets, depending on how far the Earth and the planets are separated ,for instance Mars will be particular bright presently as the Earth overtakes it.In 2015,Jupiter will not appear as bright due to the increased distance from the Earth -

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100613.html

While conjunctions themselves are spectacular,it is rare to encounter explanations which set these events in more lively context than just the closing distances between two or more planets and why using these online orrerys give observers a more vibrant feel for what is going on.