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Could this be Venus?


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Hi everyone, just a query! I am located in Northumberland UK I have the Stellarium app on my phone and it's showing Venus is visible. I can't see any stars in the sky but there is a very bright object I can see with my naked eye could this be Venus?

Screenshot_20161230-171352.png

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Yes Jenny, the very bright 'star' in the SW is Venus. It's the brightest object around apart from the moon or sun.

EDIT If you move up and left from Venus you will come to a much fainter reddish 'star' which is the planet Mars, visible with the naked eye too after dark

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Wow really lol I honestly never realised you could see any planets with the naked eye so all my life I've been seeing planets in the sky and never gave it a second thought that's crazy ? I want to take my telescope out the front to see it but the neighbours might think I'm crazy ?

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i remember the first time i was able to locate mars i was so excited. all i had was my dads binos and a very old version of stellarium (or something simillar, was a few years ago)

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nothing wrong with that. most people find it a fascinating subject. only reason i don't go out the front is because my south view is still blocked by a row of terrace houses and street lights. orion was great to see last night after midnight. i don't get to see it very often

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36 minutes ago, JennyBull said:

Wow really lol I honestly never realised you could see any planets with the naked eye so all my life I've been seeing planets in the sky and never gave it a second thought that's crazy ? I want to take my telescope out the front to see it but the neighbours might think I'm crazy ?

Or they may just want to take a look :)

Go for it

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17 minutes ago, Dakaar said:

nothing wrong with that. most people find it a fascinating subject. only reason i don't go out the front is because my south view is still blocked by a row of terrace houses and street lights. orion was great to see last night after midnight. i don't get to see it very often

Same here I live in a terrace too! I get good visibility most of the time when the stars are high and I can creep around at 5am lol....just learning so I'm excited when I see anything really!

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It's gone ? about an hour and a half ago it was really dominant and bright but then it seemed to move further away each time I looked and now it's gone, could be cloud but it got smaller and smaller. Lol you'll have to excuse me I'm a total beginner ?

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3 minutes ago, JennyBull said:

It appears to be moving away from me. I thought it would get higher in the sky?

Download a copy of the free 'SkyPortal' APP (for Apple or Android phones). It will show you the sky now, and you can fast forward (or back) to look ahead. As the Earth rotates, celestial objects will rise and set like the Sun.

Most planets do tend to be fairly low to the horizon,  but Venus and Mars are currently prominent at around 18:00. If you draw a line between them and extend it a fraction beyond Mars you might see a tiny blue dot if your scope is powerful enough. That is Neptune. Jupiter is prominent at around 05:30. All the above,  fog and mirk permitting!

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ye it is still up. it is getting very low in the sky now though. it will become progressivly harder to see as it starts passing behind more atmosphere. also depending on your skyline if its looking towards any large hills/houses then maybe it has passed behind those?

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I've been observing the Venusian phase change with a small Mak in the afternoon for a while now. Venus reaches Last Quarter (maximum elongation) on January 13th.

venus lq2.png

venus lq.png

Jan 13th (Starry Night 7)

VenusVPA LQ.jpg

Virtual Planet Atlas/GIMP

earthrise.png

Venus and Earth rising from the Martian surface while Phobos sets (Stellarium 0.12.4)

 

 

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23 minutes ago, JennyBull said:

It's gone ? about an hour and a half ago it was really dominant and bright but then it seemed to move further away each time I looked and now it's gone, could be cloud but it got smaller and smaller. Lol you'll have to excuse me I'm a total beginner ?

Venus and Mercury are called inferior planets, not because they are rubbish ( ;) ) but because they orbit inside the Earth's orbit ie they are closer to the sun. One of the results is that they never appear too far from the Sun in the sky. When visible they are either leading the sun ie they rise in the morning before the sun rises, or as now for Venus they are following the Sun as it sets. This does give a real sense of the motions of the planets in the solar system.

Other planets such as Jupiter, Mars Saturn etc orbit further out and can appear anywhere in the sky roughly along the plane in which all the planets orbit called the ecliptic. Unfortunately, the planets are relatively poorly positioned from the UK at the moment and will remain that way for some years. That doesn't mean they can't be observed, just that they are lower in the sky than is possible at other times so the views aren't as crisp. Jupiter will be in a good place to observe next Year (ie 2017) and that is second only in brightness to Venus. You will clearly see the 4 main moons orbiting around it and some surface detail, plus sometimes the shadow cast by one of the moons as they transit in front of the planets. Quite amazing what you can see through a scope!

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2 hours ago, JennyBull said:

but the neighbours might think I'm crazy ?

My neighbours have thought (perhaps known) I'm crazy since the day I first took a telescope outside :) I quite often observe from the back garden but if I'm after something that's low in the southern sky then it's out the front I go. You'll be amazed how quickly (armed with your stellarium app & telescope) you'll be considered an expert locally. You'll have folks approaching you during the day asking about all sorts including the odd conspiracy nut. You'll probably have folks asking you for a look as well - expect some oohs and wows.

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