BS: Celestial Object

Subject: BS: Celestial Object
From: Peter the Squeezer
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 02:04 PM

Have just been looking up in the sky, and have seen a VERY bright object close to the moon. Someone has suggested it could be Venus. Can anybody confirm or correct this. I am in Leicestershire (UK).

I await the combined knowledge of the Mudcat.

Many thanks

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: alanabit
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 02:39 PM

Sounds likely. If it is in the West and is a lot brighter than any of the stars in the Plough, it is almost certainly Venus. You will only see it in the early evening - up to about ten - or in the East soon after dawn. This is because it is closer to the sun than the Earth is. Venus can reach a magnitude of ca. -4.2. I do not think any of the stars in the Plough, which are brighter than most, are even stronger or as strong as the first magnitude (+1). So when Venus is up (I saw it next to the moon a couple of hours ago, but I am in Cologne, to the East of you), it really is pretty unmistakeable. The brightest star, Sirius, only reaches a magnitude of about +0.6 even on the clearest winter night.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 02:46 PM

Yes if it's in the west it's Venus. I was looking at it last night, it was as bright as I've ever seen it.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 03:32 PM

I was looking at it, Venus, several weeks ago. Ditto fer me... never seen it so brilliant.

Odd, innit? How such a sight can somehow touch you heart and mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Nickhere
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 03:42 PM

It seems a bit high up in the sky to be Venus, usually it's lower and closer to the setting sun. I was wondering if it might be Jupiter, which is also very bright. A quick look through even a cheap telescope should confirm, as Jupiter will have at least 4 clearly visible moons around it.

It's in the right part of the sky to be Venus though. The other evening there was a very nice view of it, high in the sky and with a crescent waxing moon nearly touching the horizon. Pity we can't upload photos to Mudcat as I got some very nice shots of the crescent moon one evening before Xmas with Jupiter and Venus forming a triangle. A digital camera works fine set on manual and using the optical zoom to get the most out of the low levels of brightness of the celestial objects.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Don Firth
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 03:52 PM

Yup. I just checked an "Earth and Sky" star chart, and that is, indeed, Venus. Quite close to a crescent moon just after sunset, very bright.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 03:54 PM

This might help

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 03:56 PM

It is Venus, Jupiter is no longer visible in the sky at night. Last year (spring) both Jupiter and Venus were close and had a nice conjunction. It can get this high as it moves to greatest elongation (the distance away from the sun). I love the winter constellations...

astro

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 04:10 PM

McGrath... somewhat. But, as a city dweller, I might need the moon in there to position my self.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 05:07 PM

About 14 years ago the most colorful celestial object I have seen was a comet with two tails. One tail was bright blue and the other was bright red at a 30 degree angle to the blue tail.

I have never read an explanation why two divergent tails of such strikingly different colors would emmanant from a comet.

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 05:53 PM

This is the perfect thread for a song by Christine Lavin:

"Venus Kissed the Moon"


maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 03:30 AM

2 months ago, Venus and Jupiter were very close and the crescent moon occulted Venus.
Sadly there were clouds over Hertford, but others in UK saw it.

I remember that comet.
There must have been two separate outgassing events.
I love the winter stars, I think because as a boy they were the ones I got most opportunity to watch and learn.
keith

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 09:34 AM

"when the crescent moon has a single star, to guide her through the night" - lines I remember from an old 'Singing Together' type radio for schools programme of the 1970s (which is when I was at primary school), which have stuck with me ever since and I'm reminded of them whenever I see the "horned moon with a star in her arms" as it has been this week.

The song then went on to talk about little goblins coming out to play, with the chorus of 'hobi derry dando, hobi derry dando'.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 11:25 AM

My son and I were out driving that night of the convergence of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon and took a good look at it. They were beautiful, and I remember remarking that there was probably some chatter about this event on the star gazing sites. I asked a friend who edits a newsletter for the Fort Worth star group and he said yes, it was quite a nice event and they looked forward to it.

The McDonald Observatory is here in Texas and over the years they sponsored some short star programs on the radio and television, though I haven't seen the one for years. The strange-looking fellow who walks down that Milky Way path is probably still out there.

Stardate seems to be from McDonald, but they probably have links to other groups.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Celestial Object
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 01:36 PM

Donuel, you did indeed see two tails on that comet. I photographed the same comet, Hale-Bopp; and the dual tail shows clearly.
The two tails thing is not at all uncommon in the world of uncommon comets. The brighter white or white-green tail is composed of out-gassing vapors and dust particles spiraling out pushed by the solar wind. The blue tail is ionized hydrogen plama. The mass of the ionized gas is very low. The gas is blown in a line directly out from Sun by the pressure of light. So it's the difference between the masses of the dust and the ionized gas that makes a difference in angle possible.
Both tails are always present in active comets within the inner solar system (roughly inside the orbit of Jupiter). The angle between the observer's position on Earth and the orbital path of the comet determine whether or not you will see ion tails. It's not unusual for them to be hidden behind the much brighter dust tail.
Also the dimmer ion tail will tend to be hidden by the level of light pollution that you have in Rockville. Hale-Bopp just happed to be an exceptionally bright comet; so its ion tail was proportionally brighter.

Skivee