# Huge Object in the Sky **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543 "2009-01-22T23:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/1 "2009-01-22T23:59:59Z")
It’s 6:58 pm in Washington, DC and I’m looking to the west. There is a huge object in the sky. I know it’s not a star, and there is only one of them. What is it? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/2 "2009-01-23T00:03:44Z")
The very luminous white thing? That’s Uranus and Venus in conjunction. Bright, innit? ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/3 "2009-01-23T00:10:46Z")
Well, you’re certainly not seeing Uranus as a bright object. It is very near Venus right now, but Venus is nearly 10000 times brighter than Uranus. Uranus is not really visible to the naked eye, especially near a city. What **Fiddle Peghead** is seeing right now is almost certainly Venus. It’s particularly conspicuous right now. That’s because it’s near its point of maximum brightness, and high enough in the sky to persist well after sunset. So it’s at that point in its orbit where people are noticing it a lot. I’m a little confused by the OP’s use of the word “huge”. Venus is very bright now, but it’s still a point of light. **Fiddle Peghead** , are you talking about something that has a big apparent size…like larger than the moon? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/4 "2009-01-23T00:13:27Z")
Yeah, you’re right **aerodave** , Venus and Uranus are very close but not so close that they’d look like a single object even through a telescope. The “huge object” is certainly Venus, assuming that **FP** is talking about a celestial body at all. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/5 "2009-01-23T01:37:34Z")
Some more info about Venus, which I posted in \*\*Fiddle Peghead’s \*\*previous thread on this subject: > [@](#): > > Venus reaches its greatest elongation east of the Sun on 15 January. After that it will start to lose altitude each evening. It will be at its brightest in the last few weeks of February. In early March it will get lost in the evening twilight as it nears the Sun, reaching inferior conjunction (i.e. between Earth and the Sun) on 28 March. Venus then returns to the early morning sky in April and continues as the Morning Star right through until mid-December. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/6 "2009-01-23T02:21:22Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Some more info about Venus, which I posted in \*\*Fiddle Peghead’s \*\*previous thread on this subject: [Weird](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=498603), its almost exactly the same thread. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/7 "2009-01-23T03:35:36Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > [Weird](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=498603), its almost exactly the same thread. God, my mind must be going. I had completely forgotten about that other thread. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/8 "2009-01-23T03:54:59Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > God, my mind must be going. I had completely forgotten about that other thread. So is it the same object? ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/9 "2009-01-23T04:05:11Z")
Expect a visit from some men in black suits soon. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-object-in-the-sky/482543/10 "2009-01-23T04:24:03Z")
I thought they wore white coats…