The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #54827   Message #850463
Posted By: KateG
19-Dec-02 - 12:41 PM
Thread Name: BS: what IS that star rising in the east???
Subject: RE: BS: what IS that star rising in the east???
I don't know if I can do a blue clicky, but the website "Stig's Sky Calendar" will show you everything you want to know about what's in the heavens at any given time for your location (default is Stavanger, Norway but it can be set for a bunch of major cities or you can enter your on long. & lat. The url is http://www.skycalendar.com/skycal/index.html

According to Stig, the bright star in the southeast at dawn is Venus, magnitude -4.6,while Mars is very close to it at mag. 1.6 -- nowhere near as bright. Saturn rises in the east at around 10:00 at night (New Jersey time), and is magnitude -0.4. So the mind-bender is definately Venus -- and its beautiful, still visible even as the sky is brightening at 6:45 am when I take the dog out. But if the rings are visible with binoculars, I'll have to take them the next time the dog gos out for her evening walkies (weather permitting).