# What Is This Bright Object in the Sky **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627 "2011-11-30T23:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/1 "2011-11-30T23:58:44Z")
For reference, I’m in Springfield, Illinois. Pretty much due southwest, at about two thumbs\* above the horizon, is a bright object. It was there last night as well (and probably before, but I didn’t notice it until last night). It’s extremely bright; brighter than I can recall Venus ever being. The color seems to shift if you stare at it long enough, from star-white to almost a pale peach. Of course, the colors are most likely an optical illusion. I’m tempted to rule out Venus, as there’s an almost-equally-bright object in the northeast right about now, which I take to be Venus. \*By “thumbs” I mean, if you hold your thumb out horizontally at arm’s length, the distance from the bottom to the top of the knuckle. I’m not skilled enough in math/geometry to try to estimate the distance in degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/2 "2011-12-01T00:05:37Z")
Southwest should be Venus this time of year. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/3 "2011-12-01T00:06:16Z")
Venus is in the SW right now. Aldebaran and Capella are in the NE. Venus is always close to the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/4 "2011-12-01T00:10:27Z")
Awesome, thanks! It’s really REALLY bright these days! :eek: What am I seeing in the northeast? Jupiter? ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/5 "2011-12-01T00:22:04Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What am I seeing in the northeast? Jupiter? See my post above. Jupiter is in the SE. ---
**Author:** ![Dufus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Dufus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dufus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/6 "2011-12-01T01:07:18Z")
[Astronomy.com](http://Astronomy.com) has a page called “The Sky This Month”, where you can check out all the current interesting stuff in the sky. [http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/Sky%20this%20Month.aspx](http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/Sky%20this%20Month.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/7 "2011-12-01T01:31:21Z")
Or you could look for a planetarium to visit. They usually charge an admission fee, but they’re more of a show. According to the [Step Into Places](http://www.stepintoplaces.com/Resource%20Guide/Science/Science_IL-IN.htm)online resource guide, there are planetaria located in Rockford, Rock Island (John Deere Planetarium), River Grove, Peoria, and Joliet. According to [last year’s State Journal Register](http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x446580259/Jacksonville-High-refurbushes-planetarium), there’s one in Jacksonville High School, Springfield, IL. But I don’t know if they’re open to the public. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/8 "2011-12-01T03:52:22Z")
There’s also This Week’s Sky At A Glance: [http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance) And an interactive sky chart (such as the one on that site) will show you constellations and planets. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/9 "2011-12-01T05:06:06Z")
If you install Google Earth, then you can select the sky view and see a detailed map of the Sky. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/10 "2011-12-01T05:17:54Z")
And if you have an smart phone you can install the Google Sky app for free and just point your phone at the object in the sky and a star map will display telling you what you are seeing. ---
**Author:** ![W0X0F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@W0X0F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W0X0F)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/11 "2011-12-01T06:24:44Z")
[Heavens-Above/](http://www.heavens-above.com/) is a good web-based sky chart that can be customized for your location. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/12 "2011-12-01T14:55:21Z")
[Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org) is always my recommendation for questions like this. It’s beautiful, intuitive, and free. Just load it up, set a location and time of interest, and you’re place in the center of a pannable, zoomable representation of the night sky looking as realistic as you could hope for. It’s very easy for beginners to get answers. If you have an iPhone or iPad, [Distant Suns](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/distant-suns-3-astronomy-for/id363418936?mt=8)is a similar piece of software for that platform. It’s not free, but it’s excellent. I’m a big fan of Heavens-Above, but reading flat star charts can be disorienting until you’re used to them. There are alternatives that make browsing around a virtual sky more appealing. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/13 "2011-12-01T15:03:53Z")
> [@aerodave](#): > > [Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org) is always my recommendation for questions like this. It’s beautiful, intuitive, and free. That was the program I used to answer the OP with. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/14 "2011-12-01T15:05:06Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > And if you have an smart phone you can install the Google Sky app for free and just point your phone at the object in the sky and a star map will display telling you what you are seeing. Really? Neat! ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/15 "2011-12-01T15:48:42Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but wouldn’t we need to know the time the OP was looking? The north star holds relatively still and everything rotates around that, so the planet in question would start in the southeast and end in the sourthwest, right? So it could be Jupiter, if the time were right. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/16 "2011-12-01T15:50:45Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Really? Neat! As much as I love the program, it doesn’t seem to be very accurate. I’ll point it south and it’ll show me west, or I’ll point it below the horizon and it’ll show me the zenith. And I’ll turn as much as 30 degrees while the screen still holds still. Better to set it to manual and use it as a ‘map’ instead of a ‘GPS’, if you take my meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/17 "2011-12-01T15:56:37Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > As much as I love the program, it doesn’t seem to be very accurate. I’ll point it south and it’ll show me west, or I’ll point it below the horizon and it’ll show me the zenith. And I’ll turn as much as 30 degrees while the screen still holds still. > > Better to set it to manual and use it as a ‘map’ instead of a ‘GPS’, if you take my meaning. I use Google Skymap all the time. Its accuracy is a function of your phone, not the software. If the compass and gyros in your phone are sub-par, the sky map will bounce around and point in the wrong directions. On a good phone, it will be spot on. By the by, Venus only appears in the early dawn or dusk hours, since it is inside the Earth’s orbit (that is, closer to the sun than we are). If you are seeing an object deep in the night, it is not going to be Venus. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/18 "2011-12-01T16:57:51Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong here, but wouldn’t we need to know the time the OP was looking? The north star holds relatively still and everything rotates around that, so the planet in question would start in the southeast and end in the sourthwest, right? So it could be Jupiter, if the time were right. From the OP: Yesterday, 05:58 PM (CST) I’m assuming it was less than an hour before that, or it would have been too light to see anything. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/19 "2011-12-01T17:23:55Z")
> [@aerodave](#): > > [Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org) is always my recommendation for questions like this. It’s beautiful, intuitive, and free. I second this recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627/20 "2011-12-01T17:39:12Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong here, but wouldn’t we need to know the time the OP was looking? The north star holds relatively still and everything rotates around that, so the planet in question would start in the southeast and end in the sourthwest, right? So it could be Jupiter, if the time were right. Heck, it could be the _SUN_ if the time were right. It certainly matches the description 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-bright-object-in-the-sky/604627.md?page=2)