Visible Planets
Very bright planet in the western sky tonight.
Anyone know a good sight to ID what planets are visible?
HectorTry "Sky Map" from Google. It brings up a star chart but also uses your cell phone to get the exact orientation. That means the minute the phone changes, it senses the orientation and changes the map to show you the right sky picture. I figure from your question that the very very bright object in the western sky is what you are asking about. That's the "Evening Star" also known as the "Morning Star" as it appears in the east. It's Venus and it currently is extremely bright in the sky.
GC Diagonal upwards to the left is a faint Mars:)
Had the Night Sky app but for some reason if I use it in the house, the dog goes nuts
Blackcat Several days ago (Thurs or Fri?) Venus was very visible, along with a faint Mars. Pretty cool stuff.
Kj Venus is visible in the early evening. The bright object in the western night sky is the planet Jupiter.
BC Jupiter has been extremely bright from my driveway the last few nights. Super cool.
Dancicus Fighticus Venus looked much brighter than usual last night. I looked it up and I guess the last few nights it was at its peak illumination for the year.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/astronomy/venus-brightness-peaks-next-few-evenings/70000871
PenwellRd I was wondering which planet that was. It's south of my house. Kind og down and over a little from Orion's upside down head. Very large and bright. Is that Venus or Jupiter?
hktownie Venus is visible to the southwest at sunset and shortly after. Then it falls below the horizon and is no longer visible. Jupiter is visible high above the horizon in the western sky after it becomes dark.
According to my Sky Scout- It's Venus. Diameter 7,521 miles. Orbital period 224.7 earth days. Rotation period 243 earth days. Orbit radius 216m km. We learn a lot from this little gadget.
auntiel If you're looking now and for probably another good hour, then it's early enough in the night to still be seeing Venus before it disappears below the horizon. For Jupiter wait until about midnight.
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