Bright Blue White Star

[ferlew]

My house faces south, so if I look up into the sky, approx SSW, there is a really bright star. How can I find out what it is please ?

[ferlew]

Many thanks, I have saved the link :)

[bhg481]

Slightly above and to the left of it is mars - looks reddish. If you're up at around 7 in the morning you will see jupiter close to the moon.

[Togo]

Ferlew do you have a smart or Android phone? If so download Google sky map to it. It identifies all the stars and planets, even below the horizon, but you do have to enable location finder on the mobile. It could that you can see (no silly pun intended) Uranus which at the moment is very bright but low on the horizon. You therefor need an uninterrupted view SSW.

[ferlew]

Togo I do have an uninterrupted view, and luckily very little in the way of light pollution, I think we have about 6 streetlamps and open farmland in front of us.
However, I do have a new phone, Samsung Galaxy J3, but not a clue how to use sky map.
I'll have a go tomorrow at getting that app.
The star I am seeing is almost above me and a bit to the right while facing due south.at 7pm ish, not off in the distance. Son said he thought Uranus too, but this seems fairly close and high.
Wish me luck trying to get Sky Map :)

[NoMercy]

I had a feeling that was Venus and told the OH as much.

[Togo]

Haha Ferlew just seen your later posts, I will have a gander again at about 10pm tonight. I Know that Venus is very bright in the South at around 4PM but again fairly low. I am not sure where it tracks to by 10pm but will as I say have a look later. You have got me curious now. Last week was interesting as there were 5 planets all in a straight line and all visible with a good scope or a good set of bins.

[bhg481]

Venus will just have set by 10pm Togo - you need to gou out as early as you can.

[Togo]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid

[Togo]

I am not looking for Venus bhg. We were all trying to definitely identify what it is that Ferlew was seeing SSW at 10pm last night. I suspected that Venus may have set below the horizon but I did see that Uranus was right there by using my sky map on the mobile. I have been seeing Venus bright as a button all through December but usually around 4PM. Earlier in the month 4 planets were visible using binoculars at 4.30 pm on a clear night, it may have been last Tues or Wed. What Ferlew was seeing is almost overhead as indicated in the later post that I only saw this morning.

[ferlew]

Although my posted was timed at 10pm ish, I omitted to say what I saw was around 7pm - I think this may make a difference ? Sorry.

[ferlew]

Also, it was sticking out like a sore thumb to the naked eye.

[bhg481]

It looks like we're back to Venus then. The only other bright object would be mars but that is reddish and not as bright.

[Togo]

Venus it will be then, at its height about 7pm. Just anther note Ferlew if you get the google sky map uploaded to your phone it gives the location of the whole sky regardless off the time day or cloud cover, so you can note the position of stars and planets even at midday in the summer and even see the stars of the southern hemisphere by pointing your phone to the ground.

[ferlew]

Thank you all so very much, never expected to be able to see a planet so clearly :)

[Togo]

Further to the earlier posts Ferlew. Venus would not have been high in the sky at 7pm ish on Thursday. By that time it would have been as it was tonight quite near to the horizon and descending. However Uranus would have been high in the sky and at it's very brightest for a number of years but again descending rapidly and becoming almost invisible to the naked eye. If pressed I would say that you did not see Venus so high at that time.

[mibn2cweus]

Depends on observer's latitude.