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What was that big star next to the Moon last night?


nebula

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If it's a very bright star that you don't normally see - chances are good you are seeing a planet.

In this case, the planet that is being seen near the Moon is Jupiter.

Jupiter, being the largest planet, is the 2nd brightest "star" (planet) in the night sky. Venus, being the closest planet to us, is the brightest.

There are two ways you can see Jupiter by the Moon.

Option 1: Click here to see pictures.

Option 2: Go outside tonight and see it for yourself. ;)

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:cool:

I read the title of this thread, and I'm afraid a Henny Youngman-ish answer popped to mind: 'That was no star; that was the planet Jupiter!'

Yes, we saw them last night too - just gorgeous, peeking through the cloud cover!

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With our hazy sky last night that was the only star visible . . . I wonder which it was.

Thanks

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well, ya know the International Space Station is visible to the naked eyes also, it's possible (not likely, but possible) you could have seen that too....

I keep trying to find Polaris and can never get it right, even with the easy way I learned from watching "The Zula Patrol".....

a.

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The Space Station moves a lot more rapidly across our sky than do the planets.

And it looks more like a line than a dot.

Jupiter was still hanging nearish to the Moon last night.

~~

Polaris, the North Star, is not a very bright star.

But here's an animation for how to find it:

http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/spacescience...tellations3.htm

And here is the night sky with lines drawn in when you move the curser over the picture:

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/C_SPRING/URSAS.HTM

Hope that helps.

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With our hazy sky last night that was the only star visible . . . I wonder which it was.

Thanks

If it was next to the moon, it was Jupiter.

If it was very bright and off by itself, it was Venus.

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Option 2: Go outside tonight and see it for yourself. :noidea:

What is this "outside" you speak of? :thumbsup:

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Option 2: Go outside tonight and see it for yourself. :thumbsup:

What is this "outside" you speak of? :noidea:

B, not everyone has the chat addiction that we have :laugh:. I missed it :(. Usually I love our night sky! I wonder if it was visible from everywhere on the planet?

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I love our night sky! I wonder if it was visible from everywhere on the planet?

I'm pretty sure the night sky can be seen from anywhere on the planet.

But I'm just guessing.

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I love our night sky! I wonder if it was visible from everywhere on the planet?

I'm pretty sure the night sky can be seen from anywhere on the planet.

But I'm just guessing.

:thumbsup:

(but, I meant Jupiter, obviously!)

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