Woke up at 4.40 and saw the brightest star I've ever seen around 30 degrees NNe. It wasn't moving - so it was either a star or a planet in a near earth orbit. And will it be there again tonight? Notice that question has already been posted - but with inconclusive answer.
2007-09-26 07:09:46 · 12 answers · asked by ? 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
If you download planetarium software, your computer can show you what the sky looks like over your home at any given time. Then you can compare what you have seen with the images of the night sky on the screen. That is what I like to do.
There are some very nice open source and freeware programs.
I really like Stellarium:
http://www.stellarium.org/
2007-09-26 07:20:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
very probably what you observed became the planet Jupiter. this is at the instant the brightest merchandise interior the sky different than the solar and Moon. i think of you're flawed interior the altitude of the object, as Jupiter would not get very severe interior the sky from the united kingdom, no better than sixteen° above the horizon from the variety of London. take a seem back this night and verify its altitude relative to the horizon (0°) and the zenith overhead (ninety°). i'm getting rather bored with folk answering with wild guesses like "Venus" and "Polaris." Venus is at the instant too close to to the solar to be truthfully stated, and might in basic terms be seen interior the early night, actual after sundown. Polaris isn't a colourful merchandise, and is interior the NORTH, no longer the Southeast...this is in order that dumb! a pair of folk replied that it became a supernova. There hasn't been a colourful supernova interior the sky for over 4 hundred years! So please PLEASE, while you at the instant are not specific of an answer, do no longer wager!!!! All you will do is confuse the guy asking the question.
2016-10-05 09:47:59 · answer #2 · answered by kottwitz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was either Venus or Mars and yes it will be there again tonight altho in a very slightly different place. My money would be on it being Mars tho, read the following.....
Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, certainly not as wide as the full Moon.
Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.
Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.
2007-09-26 07:26:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
North-north-east? Unless you're in Tasmania, New Zealand, or Tierra del Fuego that won't be Venus. If it was in the South-Eastern sky, and you're in the mid-Northern hemisphere, then Venus.
And a "planet in near earth orbit" would be a real worry.
2007-09-26 10:32:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
What you most likely saw was Venus.
At this time, it's the brightest thing in the daytime sky (except the Sun, of course!)
Check it out with a pair of binoculars... It's pretty cool because it exhibits phases like the Moon!
2007-09-26 07:20:01 · answer #5 · answered by Bobby 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The brightest star at this time of year is Venus.
2007-09-26 07:15:42 · answer #6 · answered by Sparky 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
venus is the morning star (even though its a planet)
2007-09-26 07:17:30 · answer #7 · answered by oldguy 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Venus. Like all the 10,000 other people who have asked.
2007-09-26 07:12:24 · answer #8 · answered by laurahal42 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Pretty sure it's Venus.
2007-09-26 07:12:22 · answer #9 · answered by Hello Dave 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
venus
2007-09-26 07:12:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋