Astronomy?

[wtnhighlander]

Any amature or pro astronomers out there? I'm curious about the object is above the moon here.

This was taken at about 5:00 pm on 12/6/2021, near Jackson TN.

These objects were visible in the sky well before the sun had fully set. Sorry for the blurry cell phone photo...

[Tom King]

I'll go out, and look.

[Tom King]

Sorry, too cloudy to see anything.

[wtnhighlander]

Guess you are under the front that passed here early this morning.

[Tom King]

Found this.   https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury/

My best friends are some of the World's top Astronomers, including my closest best friend, since we were 5 and 6.

My Wife's Father is gone now, but we had a good story to tell on him.  We used to have campfires, and visitors would come and go.  One night, some young guys showed up who my FIL had never met before.  He showed them how to find the North star.  They very patiently paid attention.

When they left, FIL asked who those guys were.  I told him they were, even then before winning the Nobel Prize, some of the World's top Astronomers.  He was a career Coasty, and let out a long list of profanity.  We never let him live it down.

The James Webb Telescope is supposed to launch before long.  All my friends are Very nervous.

[Gary Beasley]

I found an App called Skyview Lite for free. Its pretty good at telling you what you are looking at. I suspect you were looking at Jupiter.

[wtnhighlander]

Jupiter makes sense, this is about as bright as when it and Venus(?) were lined up a year or two ago.

 

This was just as the moon hit the treeline, about 7 pm. Even bracing against a pole, I couldn't stabilize enough for a clear shot. Cody snapped a couple with the zoom lens on his Nikon, if they turn out I will post them.

[Coop]

[Tom King]

Venus is the brightest planet, and never very high in the sky, or seen towards the middle of the night.  It's closer to the Sun, so has an orbit inside that of our ride.

[curlyoak]

 

[Gary Beasley]

Coops chart says it all. Venus, one very bright object, brightest in the night sky there is. Pair of good binoculars will let you just make out crescent phases like the moon has.

[Tom King]

Clear here tonight.  Look up from the Moon, not quite all the way up, and you can see the Great Square of Pegasus.  If you have really dark sky, you may be able to see the Andromeda Galaxy after the moon goes down.

https://earthsky.org/tonight/star-hop-from-pegasus-to-the-andromeda-galaxy/

[wtnhighlander]

While walking the dog after dark, I saw what I assume was the ISS traverse the sky. A tiny, but steady, pin-prick of light, crossing from the Southwest horizon, to the Northeast horizon, in about 3 to 4 minutes.

[Mark J]

What if it wasn't the ISS?  What if it was somebody else?  

[wtnhighlander]

...... the truth is out there ....

[Gary Beasley]

That Skyview app I mentioned will show you where the ISS is. Kinda comical when it shows its somewhere in the floor. Also got a predictive app that will tell the best times to see it where you are at called ISS Spotter.

[TerryMcK]

It was Venus according to Stellarium.

[Chet]

On 12/8/2021 at 6:52 PM, wtnhighlander said:

While walking the dog after dark, I saw what I assume was the ISS traverse the sky. A tiny, but steady, pin-prick of light, crossing from the Southwest horizon, to the Northeast horizon, in about 3 to 4 minutes.

I would guess what you saw was probably some smaller satellite.  The ISS is a pretty big spot of light because of all the solar arrays on it.  It is generally one of the brighter things in the night sky.

[Tom King]

There is a Bunch of stuff circling us, up there.  I think something over 160 visible ones.

https://in-the-sky.org/satpasses.php

[wtnhighlander]

I was questioning that being the ISS, not from the apparent size (plenty of light pollution here), but from the speed. I observed a fly-over of the ISS once before, that was officially announced for my area, and it seemed to take about 50% less time to cross the sky.