Bright Star Venus ?

[coma]

Have been noticing a real bright star coming up early evening over Doi Suthep. It sticks out like dogs b..s. Does anybody know the name of it ? Is it indeed a star or one of the planets ? Venus ??

[masuk]

maybe the DOG constellation -- but it's Venus.

[mickybigears]

The second brightest object to the moon is usually the reflecting solar panels on the International space station, not sure of its path over Chiang Mai.

[cloudhopper]

"Have been noticing a real bright star coming up early evening over Doi Suthep"

Yes I thought I noticed the world spinning backwards too...

[Tywais]

Venus pops out at nightfall in late October and November. Jupiter rises by mid-to-late evening, and Mars comes up after midnight. Info and charts here.

Only one planet is easily visible at nightfall around the world in late October and early November 2013: Venus. Venus beams mightily in the west at dusk, as seen from across the Earth. You can’t miss it. It sets roughly two-and-one-half-hours hours after sunset at mid-northern latitudes in early November, and close to three hours after the sun by the month’s end. Venus! It’s the beautiful “evening star.”

Jupiter can also be seen in the evening sky from around the world – if you stay up late enough or wake up before sunrise. The giant planet rises by mid-to-late evening in early November, and rises by early-to-mid evening at the month’s end. Once Jupiter rises, it’s put for rest of the night. When December comes rolling around, Jupiter will rise in the east at about the time that Venus sets in the west. By the way, dazzling Jupiter shines in front of the constellation Gemini, rather close to the constellation’s two brightest stars, Castor and Pollux.

Earthsky.org

[Chicog]

Install Google Sky Maps and point it at the object in question.

[Greenside]

ISS was our way tonight, as it happens@

Time: Thu Oct 31 6:31 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 43 degrees, Appears: NNW, Disappears: ESE

Google "spot the space station" and sign up for an email when it visits your area

[Longtooth]

"Have been noticing a real bright star coming up early evening over Doi Suthep"

Yes I thought I noticed the world spinning backwards too...

One more for "Venus".

[farang62]

The rule I was taught if it "twinkles" it is a star, if it is steady it is a planet or satelite.

[sustento]

Download Stellarium. It's the biz!

http://www.stellarium.org/

[davehowden]

Definitely Venus, sets about 2020 hrs on azimuth 240.

[T_Dog]

Download Stellarium. It's the biz!

http://www.stellarium.org/

Just downloaded it. Outstanding piece of software!

[coma]

Thanks guys. You know your stuff. Venus !! She is quite the 'beauitful sight' in a city thats sky is usually too hazy to see any stars / planets.

@ Sustento That Stellarium program is an awesome tool. Thx.

[Tywais]

Last night around midnight in the northeast and about 45 degrees up was Jupiter. Quite bright and noticeable and nice clear sky last night. As mentioned, the OPs is Venus based on the direction and time.

[taotoo]

In my experience, despite Venus being the brightest thing in the sky blah blah blah, whenever I look up and see a bright star, it's either Jupiter or Saturn. And there ends my astronomical teachings.

[Chicog]

The rule I was taught if it "twinkles" it is a star, if it is steady it is a planet or satelite.

Who taught you that?

The "twinkling" is simply the effect of the earth's atmosphere on light.

[taotoo]

The rule I was taught if it "twinkles" it is a star, if it is steady it is a planet or satelite.

Who taught you that?

The "twinkling" is simply the effect of the earth's atmosphere on light.

But stars twinkle more than planets do they not? Why doesn't the moon twinkle?

[Tywais]

The rule I was taught if it "twinkles" it is a star, if it is steady it is a planet or satelite.

Who taught you that?

The "twinkling" is simply the effect of the earth's atmosphere on light.

I thought everybody knew that. Common knowledge and was taught that decades ago.

Stars twinkle because of turbulence in the atmosphere of the Earth. As the atmosphere churns, the light from the star is refracted in different directions. This causes the star's image to change slightly in brightness and position, hence "twinkle." This is one of the reasons the Hubble telescope is so successful: in space, there is no atmosphere to make the stars twinkle, allowing a much better image to be obtained.

Planets do not twinkle the way stars do. In fact, this is a good way of figuring out if a particular object you see in the sky is a planet or a star. The reason is that stars are so far away that they are essentially points of light on the sky, while planets actually have finite size. The size of a planet on the sky in a sense "averages out" the turbulent effects of the atmosphere, presenting a relatively stable image to the eye.

Cornell University

Is it a Planet or a Star?

Even though stars are enormous, they are so far away from the earth that they appear very, very small. (With the notable exception of our sun). The light from the star gets refracted, or bent, ever so slightly as it passes through the different layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. This bending causes the star to appear to twinkle.

The planets in our solar system are much closer to the Earth. The light we see from the planets is sunlight being reflected off of the planet. Since the planets are so much closer to the Earth than the stars, they appear larger to us. When their light gets bent by the Earth’s atmosphere, the amount the light bends is small compared to how big the planet looks, so there’s no twinkle.

Like all great rules however, this one has an exception. Sometimes the Earth’s atmosphere is moving around so much, or has such a large amount of pollution, that even the light from planets can appear to twinkle.

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/science/is-it-a-star-or-a-planet#sthash.yZjrjt4J.dpuf

[coma]

Very interesting information indeed. Thanks guys.

I was talking about Venus and other space things with a friend today and he was telling me about a comet coming well close to earth before heading on for a date with the sun. It is called Ison Comet and we should be able to see it in the clear skies over chiang mai in late november. Anybody know anything about it ??

[sustento]

Very interesting information indeed. Thanks guys.

I was talking about Venus and other space things with a friend today and he was telling me about a comet coming well close to earth before heading on for a date with the sun. It is called Ison Comet and we should be able to see it in the clear skies over chiang mai in late november. Anybody know anything about it ??

Run Stellarium, hit F3, type in ison and search. It will show you where it is in the sky at the minute.

[Tywais]

. It is called Ison Comet and we should be able to see it in the clear skies over chiang mai in late november. Anybody know anything about it ??

It could be quite a show due to the effect it has on debris fields in its path that could be pushed towards earth giving a Perseid type show. Appears Dec. 08 is the high point of its passing.

Some interesting video on Earthsky.org on Oct 27.

And another video here explaining things a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFXcaR5UaM

[sustento]

If you're interested in the sun...

http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

[Chicog]

Like all great rules however, this one has an exception. Sometimes the Earth’s atmosphere is moving around so much, or has such a large amount of pollution, that even the light from planets can appear to twinkle.

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/science/is-it-a-star-or-a-planet#sthash.yZjrjt4J.dpuf

There you go. Twinkle Twinkle Little Planet.....

[jackflash]

Venus and Mercury are inside the Earth's orbit and are close to the Sun, so they are only visible either just before Sunrise or just after Sunset.

The other planets however are outside Earth's orbit, so can be seen right across the sky depending on their orbit as they move around the Sun.
Somtimes they are close to the Earth, hence are very bright, sometimes they are a long way away, hence dim.

When close to the Earth, Jupiter is an amazing sight. With binoculars it is easy to see Jupiter's moons.
Supposedly, people with good eyesite (and very clear skys) can see the moons directly.

Aparently the ancient Arab Astronomers had reported the moons centuries before the development of the telescope.

[Myshkin]

For ISS 10 days predictions, other satellites, sky charts, solar system, comets, etc.. I find this site quite useful: http://www.heavens-above.com/

It's free to register, then you enter your current location and all data will be displayed relatively to your position.

[amse]

I live in Phuket and for at least the past two years I've seen a very bright light in the sky, sometimes in the north and other times in the south. Tonight it's in the southern area, and is brighter than any star I've ever seen, and doesn't twinkle like all stars we see. I would say it's at least 10 to 20 times larger than any star and isn't the white color of a star, but a light yellow instead. Anyone else watching this light?

[T_Dog]

For ISS 10 days predictions, other satellites, sky charts, solar system, comets, etc.. I find this site quite useful: http://www.heavens-above.com/

It's free to register, then you enter your current location and all data will be displayed relatively to your position.

The "spot the station site" that Greenside mentioned sends you an email 12 hours or so before each ISS pass that is visible. Quite handy.

[sensei]

Like all great rules however, this one has an exception. Sometimes the Earth’s atmosphere is moving around so much, or has such a large amount of pollution, that even the light from planets can appear to twinkle.

- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/science/is-it-a-star-or-a-planet#sthash.yZjrjt4J.dpuf

There you go. Twinkle Twinkle Little Planet.....

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That is the exception not the rule.

[taotoo]

Venus and Mercury are inside the Earth's orbit and are close to the Sun, so they are only visible either just before Sunrise or just after Sunset.

Thank you, that explains things.

[Tywais]

Just took a photo of Jupiter and posted it in the photo forum, can see the 4 moons. Pretty poor job but limited due to tripod failure to get a stable image.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/659495-space-and-star-photos/?p=6990363