Is this what the shiny object is by the moon right now ?

[TwoMonthsOff]

earthsky.org/tonight/moon-near-jupiter-on-november-4-2022/

It’s very brigh at first I thought it was an aircraft but it isn’t moving …..does anyone know please

Mars is also super bright tonight. Get the Sky View app on your phone, it’s brill

@CPL593H no worries, the more the merrier.

Of course what we've all forgotten to mention while going on about the beauty of the night sky, is that when you actually set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night to see something specific, it is inevitably CLOUDY 😁

Well this thread is fab. Fascinating stuff thanks for starting it Op

Thanks so much for posting this. Just been in the garden watching with the teens. It’s beautiful and would have missed it if not for MN. So much great information on this thread too.

Love that app ✨✨

☺️

I assumed it was Venus as it was so bright.

I read that you could always tell a planet as it doesn't twinkle like a star does, more a steady light. I just can't quite tell the planets apart other than Mars being more orange.

Just nipped out myself to take a look at mars and within 2 seconds saw a 'shooting star', ie meteor, go right across its path. Given that there are no big meteor showers on at the moment and I'm in quite a light polluted area, that was pretty impressive timing!

There is some space junk (bits of Chinese rocket debris) falling to earth at the moment, so it could have been a bit of that. They had to close their airspace in Spain earlier on today.

@EndlessMagpies Ah yes it could be; it was really bright. Slightly less awe-inspiring than a meteor...!

You can see Betelgeuse tonight as well, it is the yellowish twinkling one about halfway between Mars and Orion's belt. It is a red supergiant star which is expected to go supernova in the near future. Well, they reckon it already did, but we don't know for sure because the light takes so long to get here. It is truly mind-blowing, when you look up there and think that much of what you are looking at doesn't exist any more...

Wow! The red spot too!

As others have said, quite a few apps which are great to get on your phone and then point at the sky.

It can be quite disconcerting to realise how much “junk” there is up there with regards to satellites etc. So much stuff just floating around.

Not much light pollution where I am, seeing Jupiter has been lovely. And agree with pp that seeing Mars, and how obvious it is, is a treat.

I know he’s controversial right now, but seeing Musk’s Starlink launch a while ago was pretty cool. From memory, it followed shortly after the ISS went past.

I go through phases of being fascinated and ready for “exciting” sky stuff and then not being on the ball for ages. I need to get back into keeping an eye out for interesting opportunities.

You can see 3 of them with a smart phone! Not very well though mind.

I was also wondering about this. Lovely 😍

I follow Tim Peake on Facebook who is pretty good at highlighting when the ISS is viewable from the Uk. Always give them a wave when they fly over (as I did to him when he was up there).

great views of Jupiter last night at fireworks - although it was cloudy in other places it was lovely pointing it out to the kids.

Thanks OP ... I'd have missed this last night it I'd not seen this thread. Indeed it was a beautiful sight.

Quick question regards the nasa ISS notification ... there's lots of warnings about possible charges from network providers ... does anyone know if they do charge? I'm with Plusnet btw

Yup - done this 😁

I'm also in the it's amazing camp. Also Mars has been up this week and I find it incredible that you can see how orange/red it is compared to other things in the night sky with the naked eye.

I saw Mars for the first time last year (on a sleepless night) and was amazed by the colour.

I also saw a planet close to the mob least night and thought it was Jupiter, so thanks for confirming!

I've never bothered signing up for notifications, I just check the ESA website or Spotthestation if it is a clear evening, to find out where it is from the tracker.

I saw it and confidently told DH that it was the North Star 🙄

It was beautiful and I'm chuffed to bits to have seen an actual planet. 😬

That's a good idea Magpies,, thanks

If you have some decent binoculars (10x50 or better) and a steady hand you should be able to spot up to 4 of Jupiter's moons too.