Bright Object in the Sky?
By an edhat reader
Does anyone know what the bright visible object is not far from the moon in this afternoon's sky? I have been watching it and have no idea what it is! It is south of and slowly getting farther way from the moon. 4:30-4:45 pm yesterday (Saturday). Thanks!
9 Comments
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Jan 30, 2023 11:36 AMWow thanks everyone, I had no idea! After Macpuzl's last post I found this. "Jupiter is easily bright enough to see in broad daylight, if you know where to look. Fortunately, the moon passes Jupiter every month, and often sits close enough to make spotting Jupiter fairly easy." So that's exactly the situation in which I saw it. Thanks again!!!
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Jan 30, 2023 10:03 AMIt was daytime, 4:30-4:45! The sun was still up and the moon and the bright object were high overhead. I looked up the info on the Space Station and this object wasn't moving anywhere near fast enough to be that. It was small but very bright, high in the sky and was moving so slowly as to appear stationary. I'm still baffled about what my husband and I saw and hope someone can identify it.
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Jan 30, 2023 10:39 AMAh, the time really helps narrow it down. Most likely Jupiter, since it appeared closer to the Moon, but maybe Venus, which is much brighter.
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Jan 30, 2023 09:43 AMJupiter. Also, Jupiter, Venus and the moon were in a straight line and glowing bright.
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Jan 29, 2023 08:24 PMFor visible planets, Venus was very bright, but fairly far in the SW from the Moon on Saturday. Jupiter was next up from Venus along the ecliptic, but still a bit removed to the SW. Very close to the Moon to its SE was Uranus, but you would have needed binoculars. Up to the NE of the Moon was Mars.
As for stars, Rigel and Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) were off to the E and below, and very low on the ocean horizon to the E was Canopus (the second brightest star in the sky). Canopus was almost directly S from SB.
Just to make sure we're clear on directions: S is toward the ocean. N is toward the mountains. E is toward Montecito. W is toward Gaviota.
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Jan 31, 2023 09:56 AMspacestation moves and isn't that bright. you can't see it during daylight. you barely see it with the light pollution we have in SB at night. i did see the ISS last night coming up from Draco, hooked north to Ursa minor, then dove down to Ursa major and dipped back below the horizon.
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Jan 30, 2023 09:46 AMit wasn't Rigel or the dog star. it was Jupiter for sure. Sirius doesn't rise that early and isn't visible to us, nor is Rigel. We won't really see those until Orion flings his leg over the mountains and wakes up. Once he starts standing up, his big dog rises and we see Sirius shine bright, follow to the left a bit, if facing north, you'll see the two stars for Gemini, then below and along the horizon, the big bear wakes up. Note the bears two brightest lights, they point directly to the north star, Polaris.
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Jan 30, 2023 07:55 AMcould have been the space station?
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Jan 29, 2023 05:54 PMIs it Jupiter?