I live in Kansas and when you look toward the North West Every Night there is a large star like light but I?

Question

don't think it is a star it is very bright very large comparing to all the rest of the lights in the sky What is this Light is it a Satelight or the Space Station or is it just a big star.. Im currious.....

Would you beable to se a planet with the naked eye i dont have a telescope. but like i said its sure a bright object.

This is not the first time ive seen it but seems like its getting brighter every year, I do look at the sky i always Look for the Number 7 in the sky which is part of the little dippers tail that normaly sits toward the south west when i look at it. So no this is not the first time ive seen it but never knew what it was so this is the first time im asking about it....

Answer 1

The planet Venus is always brighter than all the stars. Its apparent magnitude can vary from - 3.8 to - 4.6.

Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.

Jupiter can reach apparent magnitude -2.8 and Mars -2.9. The brightest star Sirius A is only magnitude -1.46 in comparison.

But back in January Comet McNaught peaked at -6, brighter even than Venus,

And back in 1054 AD the supernova that became the Crab Nebula was marginally brighter than Comet McNaught. Recent analyses of historical records have found that the supernova probably occurred in April or early May, rising to its maximum brightness of between apparent magnitude −7 and −4.5 (brighter than everything in the night sky except the Moon) by July. The supernova was visible to the naked eye for about two years after its first observation.

Saturn and Mercury have been known from antiquity to be planets, and as there weren't any telescopes till 400 years ago, they were obviously all able to be seen with the naked eye.

Uranus at about magnitude 5.5 at its brightest is then just about visible but it is not entirely surprising it ecaped detection till 1781, Neptune however is never visible to the naked eye.

The asteroid Vesta and the 4 brightest moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) can also at times be visible to the naked eye as they are also 5th magnitude at peak brightness.

Answer 2

Venus is the brightest usual object in the sky after the sun and moon.

It is visible most of the time, either in the evening or the morning - have you never heard of the Evening or Morning Star.

I am sorry, but I just find it incredible that somebody sees it for the first time, and I usually make some crack like "have you been in jail", but I won't.

It's so sad the world we live in now, where people don't look at the sky from one year to the next.

By the way, 5 of the planets are easily visible to the naked eye. Two of them, Venus and Jupiter appear brighter than any of the stars, and Mars appears brighter than any of the stars when it is at its closest.

Answer 3

As others have said, the object is Venus.

However, in pointing out that you do regularly look at the night sky you talk about the "Number 7" that you see in the "Little Dipper to the south west" from your location in Kansas.

I wonder if in fact you are referring to the Belt and Sword of Orion which would be to your south west in the first few hours after sunset at this time of year. The usual reference to the "Little Dipper" is part of the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear) and includes Polaris, the northern pole star. In Kansas (and anywhere else for that matter) this would be to the north.

Answer 4

Venus is the brightest thing in the night sky other than the moon.You can tell the difference between stars and planets very easily.A stars light will flicker and the light from a planet will be constant and steady.Reflected light(such as a planet)will not flicker when it enters our atmosphere...hope this helps...

Answer 5

Venus

Answer 6

It's the planet Venus. Yes, you can see planets naked-eye - in fact, many (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) are brighter than most stars.

Answer 7

It is the planet Venus. I was just looking at it through a telescope an hour ago.