massive bright star in the sky tonite what is it?

Question

to the right of orion halfway up the sky tonite there is a huge star - what is it a planet or a star?

Answer 1

ill tell ya wat it is..



It





Is






Beautiful!!



ha sorry, i have no clue what to call it.. ha but beautiful....

Answer 2

It's not Venus or Jupiter or Saturn either. It cannot be any of the planets in our Solar System as it is not on the ecliptic plane (the plane where all the planets orbit).
I saw it myself last night at around 20:00 BST (19:00 UTC) and it was low on the horizon, about 5 degrees altitude, in a North-Easterly direction. I would guess it was around magnitude -4 to -5, yellowish in colour and appeared to have red and blue edges, red at the bottom, blue at the top, much like the image you see in a poorly adjusted telescope. However I was looking at it with the naked eye and it was huge. It appears to show a definite disc, like you would expect from a planet, so it cannot be a star either. I watched it for around 10 minutes and it appeared to be setting whereas all the surrounding stars were rising ! An hour later it had gone completely. I'm going to look out for it again tonight, this time with a telescope ! I'm going to try to get some pictures of it as well if I can.

Answer 3

If you were outside about sunset tonight and saw a very bright "star" in the western sky to the right of Orion's Belt, you probably were seeing Venus. It set about an hour later (at least from the New Jersey sky) and then Saturn was visible in the East.
When looking at Orion's Belt, Sirius sits about two closed fist widths (with an outstretched arm) left of the belt stars and Venus was almost twice that distance to the right of the belt.

Answer 4

From your description, it is probably not Venus because that is low on the horizon and sets a few hours after the sun. The brightest star that is halfway up from the horizon and to the right of Orion is Capella, a magnitude 0 star that shines brightly this time of year. To be sure, see if it is in a constellation called Auriga which looks like a large crooked house with a peaked roof. Then you could be sure it is the star Capella.

Answer 5

I saw Venus tonight, but it wasnt massive.
You are probably seeing a planet. Check to see if it twinkles. If it twinkles then its a star but if it doesnt then its a planet.

It might be Capella.

I also know of a galaxy that is supposed to look like a massive star because its a big cluster of stars and planets so that might be what you are seeing if you say its massive

Answer 6

Venus is visible at the moment and is the brightest planet in the sky. Can be seen by looking to the west.

Answer 7

Venus

Answer 8

A planet, close by. (ie: in our inner Solar System). Probably good old Jupiter. Stick your 'scope on it (use tripod) to see if the four 'big' Jovian moons are visible, if not then it's probably Mars (much smaller but also much nearer and much more red!). Or just check-out the astronomy sites, or even The Guardian!) But if it's 'massive', then it's a planet. (Assuming night).

(note: Venus rises just before the Sun and so is visible IN-THE-MORNING! - just before Sunrise! - hence "the morning star"!)

Answer 9

It was there last night too.

It must be a planet but which one? It looks to high up to be Venus though.

I'm at a loss too

Sorry

Answer 10

It's Saturn. Jupiter's not visible at the moment, it's too bright to be Mars or Mercury, and is too high to be Venus.

Check out http://skymaps.com

Answer 11

You saw the planet Venus.