OT:Astonomy question (8 yr old standard)

[Moron Watch]

Going out of the back door just now (17.12) the sky was clear except for a single solitary star in a SW ish direction. Is this normal and what is the star ? Thank you

[Tim Streater]

Prolly Venus, a planet not a star.

[Andy Burns]

Not a star, but Mercury, it's been quite good around twilight for the last couple of months.

[pamela]

Venus is very bright at the moment.

[newshound]

No, it will be Venus. Mercury can be quite bright, but is always close to the horizon and is never visible for very long.

[Chris Hogg]

Not a star in fact, but the planet Venus, AKA Evening star or Morning star. Because it orbits fairly close to the Sun, it follows or precedes the Sun's path across the sky, depending which side of the Sun it is at the time. You don't see it during the day because the Sun is too bright, but it's visible just before sunrise or just after sunset.

[Huge]

Yes and Venus. If you look slightly down and to the left, you can see Mars, too. There are rovers (not Rovers) trundling about there!

[Huge]

Err, no.

[Andy Burns]

Yeah brainfart, I got the name right when I mentioned it elsewhere!

[Moron Watch]

Thanks for all the answers. It clearly is Venus. What's so surprising really is not how bright Venus, is but why no other stars or planets are visible - a much weaker star/planet is now just about visible near to Venus but nothing else in the entire sky. Clearly I haven't been paying sufficient attention to all this in the last 60 plus years - or just going out of the back door at the wrong time. Knowing it's Venus it might be tempting to get out the bins. However living in a suburban environment with smallish gardens, brandishing a pair of binoculars in the back garden after dark probably isn't a good idea.

[Martin Brown]

Not a star it is the planet Venus. Decent binoculars or better a small spotting scope will just about show its phase.

If the 8yo is interested then AstroFest is early next month in Kensington with loads of kit on show and talks Friday & Saturday.

Or point them at Heavens above put in your latitude and longitude and you can get predictions of ISS passes and Iridium flares too.

Interest in science and engineering needs to be encouraged.

Stellarium is a free planetarium program but it might be a bit much for an 8 yo. Ian Morison at Jodrell Bank does a nice monthly guide:

I am sure there is a UK national astronomy week coming up soon too but can't find any convincing date for it.

[newshound]

I've heard it said that people with excellent vision can just about see the crescent under optimum conditions. The give-away is to let them look through a small astronomical telescope; apparently some people say "but it is the wrong way round".

[ARW]

The Iridium flares are brilliant.

I got the Scouts with that one when I went on camp - don't ask, they needed an extra adult [1] - and I had a bet with the the Scouts that if I could predict "a star" arriving and disappearing at the exact time and place of my choosing they had to clean up their tents in the morning.

[1] They did not specify that they wanted a responsible adult and that's their problem not mine:-)

[Martin Brown]

It might be just possible but even at inferior conjunction as a crescent it is only about 1' arc tip to tip. At maximum brightness seeing Venus at midday is an interesting challenge on a good clear day - you need to stand in the shade of a building to do it successfully.

At the moment a 60x magnification would make Venus look like a featureless first quarter moon and 20x should easily show the shape. 10x might do depending on the optical quality of the binoculars mine can't quite hack it. Obviously not a point source but no clear shape.

Alcor and Mizar is an easy naked eye double in the Big Dipper.

A much tougher test used for Roman lookouts is epsilon Lyra which is just about a naked eye double for those with exceptional vision. I could do it when much younger. It is cute in a modest telescope since each of the stars is itself a telescopic double. Looks like

: ..

A few children with very sharp eyes can just about see the Galilean satellites at maximum extension away from Jupiter. This is more limited by the glare from the planets bright disk than anything else.

Forgot to mention that the reddish bright "star" not far from Venus at about 10 o'clock is Mars but it needs a moderate scope to see any disk.

[alan_m]

If you have an smart phone download an App called Sky Map Point your phone in the direction of what you are lloking at in the night sky and it will identify the stars and planets

The bright object is probably Venus and currently Mars just above and Neptune just below in the same direction.

[Judith]

If I point my mobile with the Star Chart App at the bright "star" - it shows me that it is the planet Venus.

(I did not have to actually point it at it - as I have been "keeping my eye" on it for a few weeks now)

The App is very good,

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Martin Brown escribió:

Another vote for Stellarium. A wonderful program, you can spend hours playing with it.

NAM. In Hull this July.

[Martin Brown]

Traditionally it is in Jan or Feb with Stargazing Live from Jodrell Bank and somewhere a lot darker. Invariably it is cloudy.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Martin Brown escribió:

ah, that's the /other/ National Astronomy Week complete with Brian Cox, aka Professor Astroturf ('cos he gets wall-to-wall TV coverage)

This is a problem with astronomy in the UK in winter, yes :)

[Brian Gaff]

According to the web, its definitely Venus. I used to enjoy looking at planets in them old days of sight, but I am told that near towns not only do you get light pollution, but also a nasty yellow tint due to pollution as well.

Brian