# What star is this?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 1, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025 "2006-09-01T01:56:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/1 "2006-09-01T01:56:12Z")

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It’s 8:52 CDT and just above the half moon tonite, a little over a moon diameter above, is a star or planet. What is it? I’ve tried the star charts before and am not confident enough to name it.

Any takers?

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/2 "2006-09-01T02:15:40Z")

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I think it’s [Antares](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares).

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/3 "2006-09-01T02:26:22Z")

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You may find [this link](http://www.samtsai.com/p318) puts Antares into a new light 😉

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**Author:** ![Dead\_Flowers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Dead\_Flowers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Flowers)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/4 "2006-09-01T03:44:58Z")

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It’s not a star. It’s Jupiter. That’s the brightest “star” in the sky for most of this month.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/5 "2006-09-01T04:02:35Z")

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> [@Dead Flowers](#):
>
> It’s not a star. It’s Jupiter. That’s the brightest “star” in the sky for most of this month.

Jupiter is almost two hours “ahead” of the Moon tonight. How could it be “a little over a moon diameter above” the Moon? You are wrong.

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**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:** [September 1, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/6 "2006-09-01T20:28:36Z")

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Antares confirmed from the chart in the current [This Week’s Sky at a Glance](http://skytonight.com/observing/ataglance/).

Or use the interactive sky chart. [http://skychart.skytonight.com/observing/skychart/skychartlaunch.asp](http://skychart.skytonight.com/observing/skychart/skychartlaunch.asp)

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**Author:** ![Dead\_Flowers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Dead\_Flowers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Flowers)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-star-is-this/371025/7 "2006-09-01T20:46:15Z")

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Oops. You guys are right, it’s Antares. My apologies, and consider my ignorance fought.