Does anyone know?

[PoetOfLight]

<p><em><font size="3">I live in Portugal and have been seeing a very huge, bright object in the western sky between 18:00 and 22:00 GMT.&nbsp; Does anyone know what it is?<br /><br />Thank You!</font></em></p>

 

[3488]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">I live in Portugal and have been seeing a very huge, bright object in the western sky between 18:00 and 22:00 GMT.&nbsp; Does anyone know what it is?Thank You! <br /> Posted by PoetOfLight</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Hi PoetOfLight.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Welcome to SDC.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>That is Venus for sure. Incredibly bright & is visible in full daylight at the moment in the afternoons if you know exactly where to look & the Sun is blocked out. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>From Portugal, you will have a very good view as your more southerly latitude pulls the ecliptic up to a higher angle than from here in Britain & yet even here, Venus is putting on a spectacular show.<br /></strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Amdrew Brown.&nbsp;</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p>Andrew is, of course, absolutely correct. Venus is very close to it's maximum possible brightness right now, the peak brilliance is in late February.</p><p>The onlly brighter objects in the sky are the Sun, Moon, occasional Iridium satellite flare, and the rare fireball meteor.</p><p>MW</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[PoetOfLight]

Thank You Andrew,<br /><br />I thought that it might be Spica.&nbsp; I've never seen it before this year.<br /><br /><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Hi PoetOfLight.Welcome to SDC.That is Venus for sure. Incredibly bright & is visible in full daylight at the moment in the afternoons if you know exactly where to look & the Sun is blocked out. From Portugal, you will have a very good view as your more southerly latitude pulls the ecliptic up to a higher angle than from here in Britain & yet even here, Venus is putting on a spectacular show.Amdrew Brown.&nbsp; <br />Posted by 3488</DIV><br />

 

[PoetOfLight]

Thanks for the reinforcement Wayne.&nbsp; Wonder why I've never seen this before?&nbsp; Started in mid-December.&nbsp; It never seems to appear before 18:00 GMT and by 22:00 GMT it's gone.&nbsp; I would like to be viewing in the exact moment when it comes and goes.<br /><br /><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Andrew is, of course, absolutely correct. Venus is very close to it's maximum possible brightness right now, the peak brilliance is in late February.The onlly brighter objects in the sky are the Sun, Moon, occasional Iridium satellite flare, and the rare fireball meteor.MW <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV><br />

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Thanks for the reinforcement Wayne.&nbsp; Wonder why I've never seen this before?&nbsp; Started in mid-December.&nbsp; It never seems to appear before 18:00 GMT and by 22:00 GMT it's gone.&nbsp; I would like to be viewing in the exact moment when it comes and goes. <br />Posted by PoetOfLight</DIV><br /><br />On any given night, Venus rises and sets with the stars it is near. Over the course of a few weeks you can see it's motion compared to the background stars.</p><p>Venus is closer to the sun that we are so it orbits from the east to the west of the sun along the ecliptic (the plane of the solar system). Since it orbits the sun in about 7 months, it spends a few months behind the sun in the evening sky, is not visible for a few months as it passes the sun in the sky, then is ahead of the sun, rising in the early morning hours before the sun before passing the sun agin to reappear in the evening sky. Unfortunately at this time it is in the Constellation Pisces, which has very few bright stars to compare it's motion to; though the cresent moon is nearby tonight. The brightest nearby star is Markab, to it's right, part of the Great Square of Pegasus.</p><p>Try and see it right after the sun sets when it is highest in the sky, then watch it set over the next few hours </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[crazyeddie]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Thank You Andrew,I thought that it might be Spica.&nbsp; I've never seen it before this year. <br /> Posted by PoetOfLight</DIV></p><p>Spica, in the constellation Virgo, only rates #16 on the scale of the brightest stars as seen from Earth:</p><p>http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/brightest.html</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><strong><font size="2">Reproduction of the western sky as seen from my home town of Ashford, Kent, UK on Saturday 31st January 2009 @ 20:00 UTC.</font></strong><br /> <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/14/4/de687152-55cd-40b4-b410-4351a8f10430.Medium.gif" alt="" /></p><p><strong><font size="2"><br />Same time but from Lisbon in Portugal.</font></strong><br /> <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/4/4/5451cad0-0d07-4422-a46c-ade5cde286b1.Medium.gif" alt="" /></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown. </strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>