ASTRONOMERS .............help! What is that HUGE bright planet

[Dover]

in the Western sky at about a 10 o'clock angle? I can't ever remember a planet that huge and bright...


Oops...I meant WESTERN sky.

[Ediacara]

1. Venus has been in that part of the sky for the last few months IIRC

So I'm guessing you're thinking of Venus

[cjm2222]

2. I think

it is Venus. I'm pretty sure it is, but I could be wrong.

[Speck Tater]

3. 10 O'Clock angle at what time of night?

If it's at 6 AM it's going to be something different than if it's at 9:00 PM. I suspect it might be the star Sirius, and not a planet at all.

[Dover]

6. It's about 10:30 pm in the Central zone

;;

[1monster]

4. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have been visible in the sky

since late March. I think that the brightest one must be Mars, simply because it is so much closer to us than Jupiter and Saturn. Venus is the one closest to the moon from our point of view.

[supernova]

5. Venus is the huge honking one

right now. :hi:

It will reach its apogee about 4am but it's bright alright.

[Dover]

Are you sure? It's also REALLY large

I just can't believe my eyes.

[supernova]

10. Venus is showing off

check out the sky calandar page of space.com

Sunday, 05/02
Venus at greatest magnitude, 4 a.m.
Although the moment of this event occurs while Venus is below the horizon, it is almost as brilliant on the evening of the 1st or 2nd. Or try viewing it in broad daylight! Venus is so bright that it can be seen in broad daylight almost all the time, but perhaps especially on this date when it is about 40 degrees to the left of the Sun at midday. In any event, look soon, because it will drift too close into the Sun's glare by the end of the month, heading for the historic transit of the solar disk on June 8, and returning to the morning heavens by the end of June.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sky_calendar.html

edit: You can also recognize Venus not only for its brightness but also for its distinctive blue-green color. Mars and Jupiter tend to look red and brownish, respecitively. Saturn is in view and has a similar color to Venus, but looks much smaller, like Mars.

[Dover]

13. Thanks. That seems to be the case according to that site.

It doesn't mention where in the heavens you can spot Jupiter, but I'm guessing you are right and that Venus won't be in that place much longer. It is unmistakable though! Amazing!

[Burma Jones]

7. It's me, with a flashlight. Now go to bed.

[stellanoir]

8. not knowing what longitude you're in. . .

it's kind of hard to tell. But Jupiter has been near the moon over the past two days, and there's an eclipse on Tuesday.

[The Lone Liberal]

9. Hey, dude dont look at it too long, you could go blind.

I had a friend in the 60s that did that...



wait it was the sun he looked at....


naw, I think he was abusing himself...that's it and he went blind.

[Gildor Inglorion]

11. I saw it, too; also CST...I think it must be Jupiter

Doesn't Venus rise and set with the sun? I don't think it would be out this late or that high in the sky. I could be wrong, of course.

[supernova]

12. See my post #10 above

:D

[HawkerHurricane]

14. Venus (and Mercury) either follow or lead the sun...

For a few hours after sunset, Venus and Mercury are visible. Later in the year, they'll be visible before sunrise.

Check this out...

Ancient peoples, not knowing that the Earth and the rest of the planets go around the sun didn't realize that the "Morning" stars and "Evening" stars were the same planets, and gave them different names.

Using the Roman names, they were
Evening:
Venus
Vulcan
Venus being goddess of love, it made sense to have 'her' as the evening star, with her husband Vulcan trying to keep an eye on her.

Morning:
Lucifer
Mercury
Roman legend said that Lucifer was in charge of the sun until he violated Jupiter's orders not to give mankind fire... and Mercury, the messenger, was supposed to 'wake up' the sun. So, both are seen in the morning.
And if the thing about Lucifer reminds people of the Greek legends of Promothesues, it should. The Romans stole it from them, after all. And Jupiter is the modern misprunuciation of the Latin 'Zupiter' (no 'J' in Latin), which is the Roman distortion of Zues, Pater (Zues the Father)... stolen from the Greeks, again.

So, the ancients had 9 planets... named (in Latin)
Mercury
Vulcan
Venus
Lucifer
Sol
Luna
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
and some managed to spot Uranus, which is barely visible to the naked eye... leading to some people to claim that ancient cultures 'knew' about more planets than we do now... "Proof" that aliens visited in our pre history!

[Dover]

15. Has anyone spotted the comet yet?

I can't remember where to look or what time of day.

[qazplm]

16. wait a minute

my anus is visib...oh wait. :P

Seriously though, aint astronomy and the heavens grand?!!

[TrogL]

18. It's only visible in the southern hemisphere

Our chance to see it was two weeks ago

[TXlib]

17. According to Starry Night, it is Venus

And Saturn, Mars and Jupiter also are all visible, as well.

[Donkeyboy75]

19. That's the SUN!

OK, not funny at all. sorry.