# general astronomy question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695 "2002-11-25T16:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695/21 "2002-11-26T20:16:55Z")
**Smeghead** , that was probably Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. At this time of year it it directly below Orion when it rises late at night and to the left of Orion in the early morning before sunrise. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695/22 "2002-11-26T20:19:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*Venus has been extremely bright in the morning sky. And I understand Jupiter is quite spectacular near the moon these days, er, nights. I wish I lived away from the ambient light so I could drag out the ol’ telescope. Stupid suburbs… \*\* Jupiter is very clear in a telescope even in the middle of Toronto, where I live. Last night I observed it quite easily. Three moons were apparent. You should have little trouble spotting Jupiter and Saturn even in a city. Now is a great time for seeing Jupiter and Saturn in North America; they’re really high up and immediately obvious starting in the early evening. On a clear night you can spot them right away. Then Smeghead asks: > [@](#): > > That reminds me - last night I saw something extremely bright just below Orion. It was there for at least several hours. Any guesses about that one? I’m in the western US. Probably Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It would have been clearly visible below Orion for most of the night, appearing a bit to the lower left after about midnight. It looked really, really bright last night. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695/23 "2002-11-26T20:46:46Z")
Epimetheus, sarcasm and eye-rolling don’t play very well when you’re wrong. The links you provided were from people who saw geosynchronous satellites _with a telescope_. The damn things are over 20,000 miles away! And one that was ESE would be _lots_ farther away. Back to the OP, Iridium flares are pretty spectacular, but the brighter they are, the briefer they are, and they move pretty fast. If it was in the East before sunrise, bright, and stationary, it was Venus. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695/24 "2002-11-27T00:38:00Z")
On the night of the Leonids, both Venus and Jupiter were exceedingly bright Venus was low in the sky and Jupiter was near overhead. My bet is with Venus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-astronomy-question/138695.md?page=1)