No Stars but 2 tonight?

Question

South UK decided to look outside,

One star, very very faint to the eye - the other, very bright.

Thats all I see.

Brightone has disapeard behind some buildings for now.

Clear night, but 2 stars :S

South UK - Bright star could be??

Answer 1

You get one from me :o)

Answer 2

Sorry, Shawn P, but Rigel is not in the Solar System!

Answer 3

could be rigel.

it's one of the brightest stars in our solar system, and you're on the northern side like me... i get a clear view of orion every single night.

"Sorry, Shawn P, but Rigel is not in the Solar System!

1 hour ago

Source(s):

I am a professional astronomer."

something tells me to call bull ****... your a professional astronomer, but you feel the need to tell me rigel isn't in our solar system? our solar system consists of a single star, the sun.. OF COURSE IT'S NOT IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. anyone who paid attention through third grade would know that....

"EDIT: It's definitely not Rigel. Rigel is in Orion, a winter constellation. You'd have to be looking right at dawn to see it barely rise before sunrise at this time of year."

too bad i can't take picutres of the texan night sky... i was looking at orion nearly overhead, just a  few nights ago.... it's definatley not only visible durring winter.

Answer 4

It might help if you add the viewing time and sky location of the very bright star. I'm with Tina L on this one, and strongly suspect Jupiter. It's been really hazy here lately, and sometimes, only Jupiter and a handful of the brightest stars are visible.

Jupiter is rising just after sunset right now, and is high in the southern sky by midnight. (In  the UK, it's probably already up a decent amount by sunset). If you looked in a telescope and saw only a star, then one of three things happened: 1) you weren't actually targeted on the bright object, 2) your scope is small and the viewing conditions are so poor that the details aren't coming through enough to make it seem like a planet, or 3) it's really not Jupiter.

If it's really not Jupiter, then the other bright stars in the sky right now include Antares, Arcturus, Vega, Spica, and Altair.

If all else fails, go to http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.php and set your location and time accordingly, and find your object.

EDIT: It's definitely not Rigel. Rigel is in Orion, a winter constellation. You'd have to be looking right at dawn to see it barely rise before sunrise at this time of year.

Answer 5

it won't be rigel at this time of year. you probably saw jupiter.

summer can be quite hazy, which cuts down on how many stars you can see.