Astronomy

[Vimto]

There is a very bright star or planet fairly high up in the south-south-west which I have seen in the morning before sunrise at around 6am in the north of England this week. It's too far from the sun to be Venus I think. Can anyone identify it please. Serious answers only.

[bibblebub]

Jupiter is currently in the SW at about 45° from the horizon

Stellarium is an excellent planetarium program for identifying what is visible (and it's free) http://www.stellarium.org/

[wendilla]

I would say at the moment it is Jupiter . Try here.
http://www.skyandtele...m/observing/ataglance

[Vimto]

Thank you wendilla for the confirmation; I'll have fun on the link you provided. Also, to you bubbletub; is there nowhere you don't go on AB? I've had a peek on your link at stellarium and it looks challenging. Thank you both once again for sensible help, Vimto.

[factor-fiction]

I agree with Jupiter. I'm not sure though how you can judge its distance from the sun.
(I'm curious as to what non-serious answers you thought you might get on here- do you mean the 'bend down and put your head between your legs and you can see Uranus' type of answer?)
Thanks for the 'heads up' anyway. I'll go for a run a bit earlier tomorrow and see if I can see it

[wendilla]

Vimto if you are interested you can check when the Spacestation is visible over the uk. I do a post when it is visible on the evening sightings .At the moment it is going over in the early morning like around 5am and I don't post these but if you are interested I can give you the links to find out more about it. Lots of people did not know that they could see it when the sky is clear.

[Vimto]

factor 30, the direction of Venus is never very far from the sun, either just ahead of it when it is known as the "morning star" or just after it when it appears just after sunset and is known as the "evening star". This is because the orbit of Venus is inside that of the Earth and appears not far from the sun even at greatest elongation. It is possible to see Venus with the naked eye even on a sunny day in summer if one knows exactly where to look
Your wanderings regarding another of the planets is precisely what I meant by serious answers only and is very apt as the word "planet" is from the Greek "planetes" meaning "wanderer". I thank you for your "contribution".

[mibn2cweus]

Jupiter will be at opposition in late October -
http://planetjupiter....x.php?document_id=740

[Vimto]

Hello wendilla, I see satellites purely by chance quite often as I rise at around 5.00am but it would be useful to know exactly when one is due so please send me the information on the spacestation.

[wendilla]

THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM WED SEP 21 TO THU OCT 06
SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Fri Sep 23/05:39 AM 3 15 11 above S 12 above ESE
ISS Sat Sep 24/06:14 AM 4 33 10 above SW 29 above SE
ISS Sun Sep 25/05:17 AM 3 21 15 above S 14 above ESE
ISS Mon Sep 26/04:20 AM 1 12 12 above SE 10 above ESE
ISS Mon Sep 26/05:53 AM 3 44 15 above SW 32 above ESE
ISS Tue Sep 27/04:56 AM 2 29 29 above SSE 17 above ESE
ISS Tue Sep 27/06:29 AM 2 45 10 above WSW 45 above WSW
ISS Wed Sep 28/03:59 AM < 1 12 12 above ESE 10 above E
ISS Wed Sep 28/05:32 AM 3 56 27 above SW 31 above E
ISS Thu Sep 29/04:35 AM 1 29 29 above ESE 14 above E
ISS Thu Sep 29/06:07 AM 4 75 12 above W 34 above E
ISS Fri Sep 30/05:10 AM 2 66 56 above SW 26 above E
ISS Sat Oct 01/04:14 AM 1 20 20 above E 11 above E
ISS Sat Oct 01/05:46 AM 3 75 23 above W 27 above ESE
ISS Sun Oct 02/04:49 AM 2 55 55 above ESE 18 above E
ISS Sun Oct 02/06:21 AM 5 55 10 above W 20 above ESE
ISS Mon Oct 03/05:24 AM 3 69 45 above WSW 18 above ESE
ISS Tue Oct 04/04:28 AM 1 22 22 above E 12 above E
ISS Tue Oct 04/06:00 AM 5 43 21 above W 10 above SE
ISS Wed Oct 05/05:03 AM 2 48 48 above SE 11 above ESE
ISS Wed Oct 05/06:36 AM 5 21 11 above W 10 above SSE
ISS Thu Oct 06/05:39 AM 3 32 32 above SW 10 above SE




ONLY DAYS WITH SIGHTING OPPORTUNITIES ARE LISTED


This data last updated on 22 Sep 2011 04:37:15 GMT

[wendilla]

The sightings above are for Leicestershire but there will only be a difference of a few seconds if you are in the East. Visibles mmmmostly all over uk at these times. If you want to do this your self for your own city go to SPACEWEATHER.COM AND IF YOU LOOK ALONG THE TOP YOU WILL SEE FLYBYES CLICK ON THERE AND FOLLOW THE LINK .

[factor-fiction]

Thanks for your kind words, Vimto.
And thanks for explaining about Venus's orbit. I hadn't realised initially that you were referring to distance in 2-d terms -I thought you meant it's distance in 3-d terms.
Maybe if go for a run at 5.30/6.00am I'll see Jupiter, the Space Sation and you.