# Which celestial object did I see yesterday and today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542 "2023-10-13T22:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/1 "2023-10-13T22:26:57Z")
I’ve been starting my day at around 5 AM CDT these days, so I get to see the stars before sunrise. The brightest object I see at that time, other than the moon, is low in the eastern sky, at around 20 to 30 degrees above the horizon or so. I’m almost certain that’s Venus. On the opposite side of sky, almost directly west, and higher up, around 40 or 50 degrees, I saw an object almost as bright and only a little smaller, which was not twinkling (as best as I could tell). Was that Jupiter, or is it likely I was looking at a bright star like Sirius, Vega, or Rigel, and didn’t notice the twinkling due to my eyesight and / or light pollution? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/2 "2023-10-13T22:35:54Z")
I think the eastern object is Venus, but the western object you’re seeing seems too high to be Jupiter. I’d recommend using a sky mapping app on your phone. You can just point your phone at the objects you’re seeing and it will identify them. Stellarium is a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/3 "2023-10-13T22:52:41Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Was that Jupiter, [Heavens Above](https://www.heavens-above.com/) says Jupiter is over there in that general part of the sky right now, you might not be relating the position of the thing you’re seeing well enough. But it’s gonna be the brightest thing in the west until it sets. You don’t need a special app to use that site, just allow it to know your location. Wolfram Alpha said Jupiter is 111 degrees away from Venus in the sky right now. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/4 "2023-10-13T23:30:44Z")
Skymap is another phone app that’s great for this. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/5 "2023-10-13T23:49:45Z")
If it’s even coming close to competing with Venus, then it’s got to be Jupiter. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celestial-object-did-i-see-yesterday-and-today/991542/6 "2023-10-14T00:02:03Z")
It’s possible it was the BlueWalker 3 satellite: > **[Confirmed! BlueWalker 3 satellite outshines 99% of stars](https://earthsky.org/space/bluewalker-3-bright-satellite-how-to-spot-it/)** It can be very bright around that time of day. However, it would have been moving rapidly, and you didn’t say it was moving. So perhaps not.