Really bright star - look outside

13 billion years :eek:

Well, with my coordinates, here is what is in the sky right above me :)
Jupiter is actually higher and more directly to the right of the moon as I look at it outside, but same sort of distance.

edit: Actually, looking again outside, it's much closer to the image, similar angle to the moon.

jupiter1.jpg
 
It is Jupiter - if I remember rightly Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky...

1) Sun 2) Moon 3) Venus 4) Jupiter - the others being Mars, Saturn and Mercury (not sure on order)

Most planets in our solar system are brightest first (mistaken for stars), then Sirius 'the dog star' (brightest star) which is found SW of Orion during winter night sky.

Venus (known as the evening star) can never be (AFAIK) in that high position as like Mercury it stays close to a rising or setting sun.
 
I think you'll find you are looking at Lucifer, the star which the monolith created by achieving nuclear fusion within the planet Jupiter.

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.

Bring on the new space age.
 
Always gives me chuckles when people point out "unusually bright stars" in the night sky, especially if it moves. Burden of knowledge, and all that.
 
A mate in the US just told me "It's provided some great viewing, even with my cheap telescope. You can pick out the 4 Galilean moons and see some of the color of it. If you have any optics, even binoculars you should get em out. You might get lucky and catch some moons with the binoculars. They'll just look like little stars around it."
 
If you see a really bright star its usually Jupiter or Venus. I've been watching Jupiter for the last couple of weeks, don't have a great scope though.

I remember the first time I pointed telescope at a star, and when I looked through the eyepiece I realised it had rings and I was looking at Saturn.
 
Merlin5 said:
A mate in the US just told me "It's provided some great viewing, even with my cheap telescope. You can pick out the 4 Galilean moons and see some of the color of it. If you have any optics, even binoculars you should get em out. You might get lucky and catch some moons with the binoculars. They'll just look like little stars around it."
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Yeah, you can pick out 4 of the moons easy with a starter scope.
 
I remember Comet Hale-Bopp from 97 (was it 97 ?) completely mental that it was visible for iirc most of the year, and massive and no one really seemed to bat an eye lid.

I remember walking home through Stokesley one night as well in the 90's with some friends, and there was this dire rumbling and literally the whole town lit up like daylight. We got home and put the news on and a meteor had gone the whole length of the UK. The night sky amazes me.
 
Merlin5 said:
That looks nice. I might have to consider turning into a skygazing geek and buying one of those at some point. :D
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You are joking right they are terribly unstable even using a modest magnification they wobble like hell.

Trust me on that one

i have a 1960's ashai pentax worth about £200-£300 nowadays that still gives better images that some of the £800 ones of today.

If buying a scope you should start by buying the mount first then buying scopes to mount on top as your hobby progresses something like an EQ5 mount will last you your first 2-3 years if you take it seriously enough.

And sometimes it's hard to believe people don't know what Jupiter looks like in the sky. If buying a scope it should be your first object that you view it's truly magnificent.

I will also vouch for Stellarium.org been using it for a couple of years and it's a great piece of software and can really help the budding amatuer.
 
LOAM said:
I remember Comet Hale-Bopp from 97 (was it 97 ?) completely mental that it was visible for iirc most of the year, and massive and no one really seemed to bat an eye lid.
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Thank you for that, i remember watching it when i was 17yo, nobody believed me when i told them about it (like 10 years later) now they will :)).
I have no idea how they didnt see it tho, was an awesome spectacle.
 
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