I live in New Jersey. For a few months or so, I have noticed a star from the south east. It’s brighter than the North Star ever was. What is it? Was it always there?
Mess around with this, it’s very intuitive. Unclick the “live” button then you can change to any date & time.
The answer is undoubtedly Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, which currently rises ESE around 7:30pm and is low in the sky due SE around 9pm. By early morning it’s in the SW.
The view changes gradually during the seasons because of the fact that the earth is orbiting around the sun, but we come back to the same view in the same month next year. Three months ago Sirius would have been below the horizon in the early part of the night, but visible in the SE in the early morning.
A star or Venus or something (aka the Morning/Evening Star)? Is it on the ecliptic?
In the south-west, for an hour or so after sunset is Venus. Can’t miss it - really, really bright.
South-east would be Sirius, as Riemann said.
And BTW, the North Star is not especially bright; lots of stars are brighter.