What is the really bright star / planet in the northwest sky at dusk ?

mikedublin · 23-05-2010 7:38am #1

Hi. Total amateur here. Just was looking at the sky last night at dusk, and wondering what was that very bright star or planet that is in the North-west direction (from south dublin). It was very bright, and I was just wondering if any one could tell me what it was ?

Thanks. Mike

Beeker · 23-05-2010 12:19pm

mikedublin wrote: »

Hi. Total amateur here. Just was looking at the sky last night at dusk, and wondering what was that very bright star or planet that is in the North-west direction (from south dublin). It was very bright, and I was just wondering if any one could tell me what it was ?

Thanks. Mike

That would be the Planet Venus my friend.:)

mikedublin · 23-05-2010 8:36pm

Kewl. Thanks very much. cheers.

number 26 · 21-12-2013 4:31pm

is that the one thats in the south west in the evening and then it moves to the north west in the morning?

Novaman · 21-12-2013 7:00pm

Nope 26, the one in the northwest in the morning is Jupiter, it rises in the northeast in the evening at the moment

NM

number 26 · 21-12-2013 7:08pm

thank you novaman. Our daughter has been asking on the school walk to school. I have an answer to tell her

Novaman · 21-12-2013 9:25pm

And you can also tell her that there are 4 bright moons around it, you can even see them with binoculars if they're steady.

NM

number 26 · 21-12-2013 10:05pm

wow! we will have to now look. Thank you so much.

Rubecula · 22-12-2013 2:20am

may need to rest the binos on a stand or a fence post or something to keep them steady No.26

Orion36 · 22-12-2013 1:22pm

number 26 wrote: »

wow! we will have to now look. Thank you so much.

Here is the original report of the discovery -

http://archive.org/stream/siderealmessenge80gali#page/44/mode/2up

The reason Venus is so bright is that the faster moving planet is approaching the Earth at our closest orbital point and therefore looks bigger and brighter to us on a slower moving Earth -

http://www.masil-astro-imaging.com/SWI/UV%20montage%20flat.jpg

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Solar/action?sys=-Si

Galileo more than anyone before or since made most use of a telescope and these observations -

" But the telescope plainly shows us its horns of Venus to be as bounded and distinct as those of the moon, and they are seen to belong to a very
large circle, in a ratio almost forty times as great as the same disc when it is beyond the sun, toward the end of its morning appearances. " Galileo

robertxxx · 24-12-2013 5:03pm

I got this with my compact camera, i put it on a cheap camera tripod and set it to go off on a 2 sec timer to stop it shaking, its not great but i was amazed i could see the moons.