did i just see my second planet?

[Alec S343 UNSC]

at 7am today i looked outside and the sky was clear but the sun was rising,i saw a amber light above where orion had set to the south high in the sky,to the right was a star,i got my scope to look at it,with the naked eye it did not twinkle and when i got my scope on it,it seemed to be round.

is this mars?

[GarethA]

Hi - venus is rising after the sun at the moment. Saturn and Mars would both have been visible but not really in the area where orion had just set.

Have a look at the stellarium software for your PC - it's free and helps you identify what's where.

good luck...

[Alec S343 UNSC]

i have downloaded it but i have a really bad laptop and very limited downloads speeds and my copey is a bad copey,it hasnt got all the features it should have,most of it is blank.

i edited my post as i did abit of research and found it could of been mars.

like i said it was south and semi high in the sky,it didnt twinkle and in my scope it was circular,to the right of it was a bright star,the sun was coming up from the east and from what i know of the sky,orion would be below it or abit to the right below it.

like i said,my laptop cant handle stellarium.

[ChrisThePuma]

that sounds like Mars.

Mars is in Leo at the moment. It is high in the southern morning sky and is tinged orange. it has a bright star to its right (Regulus) which is part of Leo.

If it is still dark enough you should also be able to see Saturn in the morning as well.

Further over towards the east and lower down there are a pair of "stars" in the SE. one slightly higher and on the left of the other. The left one is Saturn and can be clearly seen with the naked eye when still dark.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

YES!!! thats another planet in the sack

in my scope it seemed really small,i nearly mistaken it for a star but noticed it was round,will i be able to see it larger at other times of the year or is what i saw the best il be able to see?

[Moonshane]

is it possible this is Betelguese?

it could be Mars though. you'll get a better view in Spring.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

is it possible this is Betelguese?

it could be Mars though. you'll get a better view in Spring.

im 1000% sure it was not,orion had already passed below my field of view and this star was high in the sky,i know enough to know that it could not possibly be betelguese.

[Moonshane]

sorry if I was teaching grannie to suck eggs. I am sure then that you did indeed see Mars! well done.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

sorry if I was teaching grannie to suck eggs. I am sure then that you did indeed see Mars! well done.

lol at egg sucking haha

now all i have to do is hope i get a clear night when i wake up at 4am for work,might even set my alarm for 3.30 am.

[Dobson]

Alec What scope have you got?

[Alec S343 UNSC]

Alec What scope have you got?

its in my sig mate.

[Spare Tyre Nebula]

Alec What scope have you got?

I think it's a Jessops?? I considered buying one of these for my 9yr old until I read this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/166268-jessops-telescope-any-good.html

I think I'll get him the SW Heritage 130p instead.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

At 7am Mars was a full 75 degrees(ish) left (to the south) of where Orion set, which was almost exactly due west.

If it is possible that you were looking that far "left" then the star you saw could be Regulus and that could well have been Mars.

In a hobby where 1 degree can make the difference between seeing a spectacular galaxy and seeing nothing 75 degrees is the difference between knowing what it was and hoping it was Mars.

Saturn was also up.