Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 01 Jul 2010 23:50

Spotted a star around sunset (the only one visible) before the moon had started to rise. The star appeared really bright and sat rather low in the sky, appeared to be quite big and seemed to be setting in the east. I first saw it around 11.12 pm, when there still were some sunlight left in the sky, and when I looked for it again around an hour and a half later it was gone. Could this have been Venus, or perhaps Spica? I know that this doesn't have anything to do with 2012, but since there are quite a few amateur astronomers active here I thought I ask you guys what this could have been.

I am quite certain that I spotted Jupiter last night, and this star appeared to be on the "opposite" of that (and equally bright/big). I know that my descriptions are as vague as they get but I hope someone could have at least an idea what this might have been. I looked at Stellarium and the object that seemed the most plausible seemed to be Spica or Saturn, but as far as I know they never appear to be as bright as Jupiter. Or am I wrong? That's why I first thought it was Venus, but Venus seemed to be out of sight by that time so I'm a little confused here (as you can see=)

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

TheGreatJuju 02 Jul 2010 00:51

I'm not sure exactly where you are, but from the perspective of Stockholm at the time you gave, Altair sits east of the moon right now (though would have been above it earlier in the evening). It's a fairly bright object, and it reminds me of one of my favorite video games.

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"They tell you, but do you believe it? If so, why?"

http://www.undeadrufus.com

Last edited on 02 Jul 2010 00:57 by TheGreatJuju Show more

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 02 Jul 2010 01:30

The perspective from Stockholm is pretty close to where I'm at. The thing is that this star or planet sat very low when I saw it around 11.12 pm and seemed to be moving eastward/downwards. I don't mean any disrespect now, but I looked at Stellarium and Altair sat far too close to the moon and far too high at that time so it couldn't have been it.

Is there any star, or planet for that matter, in the region around Spica that appear as bright as Jupiter around sunset here (I noticed that you could type in time/date too, pretty neat). Spica would have been my guess, since it sat quite low in the sky and then disappeared an hour later (which fits this one), but could it really appear to be so bright that it is the only visible star in the sky around sunset? Or could it have been Venus that I caught a glimpse of? When the moon had come up, this object had dropped below the line of sight so they were never visible at the same time.

By the way, I have to second you on the game, AC is a great game=)

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 02 Jul 2010 01:41

I looked at Stellarium once again, and I'm fairly certain that it must have been Venus that i caught a glimpse of. Could that be correct?

By the way, sorry if I was far too vague in the initial post. All this is so new to me, that I lack the most basic knowledge of how to give accurate locations. But since this object was almost "rooftop" low and seemed to disappear when the sunlight went away, and was far brighter than most objects, except Jupiter, I believe it was Venus.

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

bikenbeer2000 02 Jul 2010 01:45

According to Starry Night, Venus sets in the west just before midnight and Jupiter rises in the east just after midnight. Jupiter is to the left of the Moon tonight, but will be closer on the next two nights. These two planets are much brighter than anything else except the Moon. Indeed, it would be difficult not to see them on a clear night.

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

TheGreatJuju 02 Jul 2010 03:04

but I looked at Stellarium and Altair sat far too close to the moon and far too high at that time so it couldn't have been it.

Well, then it was probably Venus or Jupiter, though I think Altair would be fairly low itself at that time. Not nearly as bright, of course.

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"They tell you, but do you believe it? If so, why?"

http://www.undeadrufus.com

Last edited on 02 Jul 2010 03:05 by TheGreatJuju Show more

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

Astrogeek 02 Jul 2010 02:15

Based on your description, I think you are not seeing Venus (that would be setting in the West). As Bikenbeer2000 said you are probably seeing Jupiter.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Last edited on 02 Jul 2010 02:16 by Astrogeek Show more

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 02 Jul 2010 08:46

I think I have managed to make a infinitly stupid mistake last night. I managed to mix up the location quite bad. When I saw this "star" it appeared to my far right from my balcony, and the moon came from my far left when it went up later that night. Somehow i managed to confuse "right" of me with "east" of me. This "star" wasn't in fact setting in the east, I just thought it was because it was moving to the right side of me from where i stood. From where I stood Jupiter came up from the leftf side of the moon, and this "star" was setting at the opposite side of that (around the time when the moon went up). I looked at Stellarium and Venus is the only object bright enough (except from Jupiter) that was setting around that time.

This object disappeared in just an hour and a half, so it sat really low when I saw it. Is it possible that it could have been Venus, based on the new "description"?

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

bikenbeer2000 02 Jul 2010 12:35

It seems that your balcony faces south, so Venus is to your right (west) before midnight and Jupiter to your left (east) after midnight.
At present, Venus is fairly low in the western sky by the time it becomes visible in the evening twilight.

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

Astrogeek 02 Jul 2010 14:19

I would say that this pretty much guarantees that it is Venus.

I was confused by your description, and at first I said that it has to be Venus, but then re-reading your post you said it was in the East, and since Venus is in the West, I changed my post.

It's ok though, no problems. If you get a pair of good binoculars or a small telescope you can look at Venus and see the phase. Right now it looks very much like a half-moon, only a lot smaller.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 02 Jul 2010 18:26

Thank you guys, things like that have a tendency to get stuck in my head when they remain "unresolved"=) This whole astronomy thing is so fascinating that I'm actually thinking about investing in a telescope so I can get a closer look at things up there. Unfortunately my curiousity/knowledge ratio is quite skew so I have a tendency to mix things up a bit, thus my far from acurate descriptions=)

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

Astrogeek 06 Jul 2010 17:29

I'll make the same recommendation to you that I give to anyone asking me about a beginner's telescope.

The best "first telescope" is a good pair of binoculars.

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"Do you ever think about things you do think about?" - Henry Drummond to Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind

Re: Bright star east of the moon - Venus?

RickardM 06 Jul 2010 22:44

Thanks for the advice, I will definitelly look into a pair of good binoculars=) I'm really glad that this whole 2012 hysteria actually brought something good with it (i.e. a renewed interrest for astronomy).

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Facts are stubborn things.
- Ronald Reagan