Bright object in Southern sky

by **oowolf** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 19:56:35

Any one know what the bright object in the Southern sky visible to the naked eye is? Its been slowly moving west all afternoon and about 35 degrees above the horizon here at 40 deg N. I believe it is a celestial object but have never seen a star or planet in daylight before. Any astronomers out there?

by **rogerhb** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 20:15:45

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oowolf', 'A')ny one know what the bright object in the Southern sky visible to the naked eye is? Its been slowly moving west all afternoon and about 35 degrees above the horizon here at 40 deg N. I believe it is a celestial object but have never seen a star or planet in daylight before. Any astronomers out there?

by **OZ_DOC** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 21:12:28

Whats your lat lon approximately, or if you dont know that what city, country are you in?

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 21:22:53

He's in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana. I didn't see it, but I didn't look up at the sky much today. I'm about 32 degrees N so it would have been much higher here. That's the problem, few people look up at the sky much anymore. I was watching fireworks last Saturday and saw a shooting star pass right over the display. BTW, fireworks have gotten some new wrinkles since the last time I saw them. Lots of circles (i.e. not spheres) inside circles of opposing colors and other new patterns. Made me think of Gandalf.

by **OZ_DOC** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 21:49:22

Venus has been passing across the path you describe over the last 10 hours or so, it is reasonably bright at the moment too (mag= -3.7, its max is around -4.4) so it's probably venus. although it is not a huge distance behind the sun in its course. But probably far enough to be seen.

by **seahorse** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 21:53:15

Bizarre, but just before I came inside and read your post, I just saw a huge star?? in the southwestern sky - night time here about 8:50 p.m. It was very big, bright, and looked like it had a tail. It was so bright, I thought it was a comet. Remember when Haley's comet came through a few years ago seen by the naked eye? Reminded me of that. After I read your post, I went back outside to see it with my wife and its gone - headed west over the horizon.

by **UIUCstudent01** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 22:00:58

Don't worry, it's just an angel...

Go back to sleep, children.

by **seahorse** » Tue 27 Sep 2005, 22:05:12

Venus or an angel? hmmmmm. Its headin west towards california, I hope its venus and not the angel of death

by **Schweinshaxe** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 19:39:57

Yup. Probably Venus. Jupiter and Saturn can be very bright as well. Mars is that bright red glowing dot in the sky. The star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion is also red but not as bright as Mars.

Youranus has a blueish glow but is rarely seen since it's normally obscured.

Stars always have a fixed position compared to other stars. Planets move compared to other stars.

Sometimes you see satellites and the space station ISS as well moving rapidly over the sky. Some satellites "flare" when they reflect the sunlight right at you and can then be seen as a flash during daytime. If you're lucky you'll be able to see three NOSS spy satellites moving together in a triangular formation.

For more information about satellites and stuff:

www.heavens-above.com

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 20:08:13

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schweinshaxe', '.')
Youranus has a blueish glow but is rarely seen since it's normally obscured.

by **sol** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 20:21:18

My guess would be the ISS , just type in your location and it will give you the time and magnitudes on visable passes :-D

Brightest I've seen it is -1.2

and then enter the earths shadow more or less over head

And I think fuck were smart?? :cry:

Sol

by **Schweinshaxe** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 20:41:20

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schweinshaxe', '.')
Youranus has a blueish glow but is rarely seen since it's normally obscured.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 20:52:09

I tried both pronunciations: uRAnus and URanus. Both get giggles, since the second sounds like talking about piss and the first sounds like talking about poop. Better to just move on to Neptune.

by **Schweinshaxe** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 20:53:18

ISS travels over your head very fast. It's over in a minute or so. Venus is often the first celestial object you see just over the horizon when it's getting dark, and it can be very bright right after sunset.

by **Schweinshaxe** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 21:37:01

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'I') tried both pronunciations: uRAnus and URanus. Both get giggles, since the second sounds like talking about piss and the first sounds like talking about poop. Better to just move on to Neptune.

by **UncoveringTruths** » Wed 28 Sep 2005, 23:55:41

Its directv!

by **oowolf** » Thu 29 Sep 2005, 16:52:58

local consensus: the planet Venus

Bright object in Southern sky

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