I have been seeing a bright object next to the moon. What is it?

Question

I am in california and this object is always to the left of the moon. sometimes below and sometimes above. I have never noticed it before! What is it? Could it be a coment? 7/17/08

Answer 1

No coments there. It is Jupiter.

Answer 2

I live in Australia and last night I had a look at this planet through a 900mm telescope, don't know much about astronomy yet but this (under magnification) has many black dots or "Craters" and is quite interesting to look at - I thought mars or venus, but methinks it may be Jupiter, and if it is I wonder if I'll see any moons around it tonight.

Answer 3

It is a planet, and depending on the time of year will depend if it is above or below.

If you are in the northern hemisphere then it would be above during summer and below in winter.

As the planets shift then this bright spot will move over the coming years.

Answer 4

Just download the free program Stellarium and run it to see WHATS UP!

http://www.stellarium.org/

Answer 5

On this day, July 17 2008, the bright, eye catching "star" that is currently in the south at around midnight (from mid-northern latitudes as in the USA) is absolutely NOT Venus, it is Jupiter.    To confirm this, take a look at it in binoculars.   You will will see 3 or four the moons that Galileo so famously discovered back in 1609.    It's quite a lovely sight.

Tonight, the moon will be on the LEFT side of Jupiter.  Last night it was over on the other side.  It moves eastward (to the left) by about 12 degrees every day rising 45 minutes later.  The next night, it will be further to the left, and will rise 45 more minutes later, and so on...

Venus is currently lost in the glare of the sunset, and would not be readily seen unless conditions were perfect.      Also, Venus never rises opposite the sun.  Venus orbits closer to the sun than Earth, and will always appear in the same half of the sky as our home star.  That bright light you see is way over on the other side of the sky.

The link below, a website called "heavens-above" is a good source for finding the appearance of the sky from your location (San Fransciso, for instance, would be 37 degrees North and 122 degrees West) on any given night.  Simply create an account, put in your longitude and latitude, and click on the "whole sky chart" link:

Answer 6

someone sent a giant mirror into space im guessing the miiror wanted some cheese so it glided across the sky via bluetooth so its the moons reflection on the mirror

~ Proffeser Ian Ederington

Space Exploration in Cambridge University

Answer 7

Actually, right now it's the planet Jupiter.  (Venus sets just after the Sun right now)  But it won't be for long, as the Moon moves a few degrees "backwards" in the sky every night.

Tonight, Jupiter should rise just before (or to the "right" of) the Moon.

Answer 8

It's Venus,

   If you love to search the sky I highly suggest a site called...

   google earth. No spam, there's a free version .  They have satellite pics of earth, and of most of what we know now  in our solar system.  The site has never spammed me.

   It's soo cool.

Answer 9

I live in south africa and often see mars next to the moon at night

Answer 10

The answer to that would most likely be Jupiter. it should ne to the left of the moon between 8-11 O'clock.

Answer 11

The planet Venus.