Look to the sky right now!!!

I'm located in southeast, Tn looking directly north. A large white bright object has been sitting in place for over 5 minutes...this is bigger than any star I have ever seen. What the hell is this? Is a planet suppose to be extremely visible tonight?

look at it with binoculars or a telescope. If you see it is round and has a small crescent shape it is probably venus or jupiter. If it does not look round, than its probably one of the mother ships.

If you have time to be on the computer, you have time to take a picture of it


Please do so, so that we can see.

My hand shakes too much to catch objects this small on camera. I saw Venus and Jupiter when they were in alignment about a month ago. This is way bigger than either one...

What was the angle off the horizon...what color was it and is it still there?
]...

It is still there. It seems to keep expanding and contracting in size and brightness. This is freaking me out big time...

I see several aircraft in the vicinity of the object.

Probably Venus which is exceptionally bright lately

How about if you go to: STELLARIUM
Download it for free, then plug in your zip code. You will then see EVERYTHING that is in the skies (space) over you right now, based on your location, time, and direction.

Its awesome!

And getting pictures will be hard. I have a great camera and struggle at getting shots of Venus You will need a tripod and no wind!


[edit on 1/21/2009 by greeneyedleo]

If you see aircraft and in the Southeast, then I can't see it. Unless you have really good eyes or those are really big aircraft with exceptionally powerful lights.

I live in TN also. I didn't go outside to see it just now, but I have been seeing an exceptionally large star ( which I had been assuming to be a planet ) for a while now.

Have you also seen the odd star under orion's belt? I don't know if it's only visible here or not. It may be a tower, though I can't see one in the day time.

It flashes red and blue. Can you see it? It dosen't move.

I saw something very odd to my south (South Carolina), but I want you to describe what you're seeing.....angle off horizon, color...does it appear to move...etc

it could be one of the planets, remember, they vary in distance from us throughout the year as they follow their orbits, plus, depending how clear your skys are will make a difference to glare, also how cold it is can make a difference, i wouldn't worry about it. Where are you? Venus is the brightest thing at the moment 0-40 degrees above the southwest horizon, for the first few hours of night. Last but not least, it could be the star sirius, which is very very big and bright at times, depending on the condition of your skies.

What do you mean by angle of horizon? I guess as an estimate I would be looking at angle of around 75*. The object is stationary. It gets smaller, almost to the size of the north star when I normally see it for a few minutes, and then expands to over the size of Jupiter when I saw it around Christmas. Man this is weird...

It is venus! It has been exceptionally bright and beautiful lately!
It makes for some awesome telescope viewing!

[edit on 21-1-2009 by Greenize]

you can always rest a comera on a car bonnet or fence and then take the picture, you could even lay on the ground and angle the camera up, there are a few options to get a relatively shake free pic if you want one.

Originally posted by edgecrusher2199
What do you mean by angle of horizon? I guess as an estimate I would be looking at angle of around 75*. The object is stationary. It gets smaller, almost to the size of the north star when I normally see it for a few minutes, and then expands to over the size of Jupiter when I saw it around Christmas. Man this is weird...

Did you see my post? If you would download the program you would know what you are looking at up in the skies. Seriously, the program is amazing and EVERYONE who is interested in what is above us should use this!

I am taking a screen shot now, so you can see what im talking about Give me a minute!

[edit on 1/21/2009 by greeneyedleo]

reply to post by edgecrusher2199


Find a horizon line, then make a fist and outstretch your arm so that your fist is resting on the horizon. One fist = 10°

And the reason it appears to shrink and grow could be anything from pollution to faint clouds in the sky taking some of the glare away.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


I have tried it, and personally i think the Starry Night software is much better, if you are willing to pay for it **cough**torrent**cough**, go to www.space.com com and look around for details on it, its there somewhere.

If it is a meteor about to crash to earth I bid you all farewell and thanks for all the fish.

OK I downloaded it and appearing in the vicinity it would have to be Venus I guess. That is really strange though, considering I saw it around Christmas when it was in alignment with Jupiter. It was nowhere near the size or brightness of what I am seeing. Nor did it expand in size and brightness like what I am seeing. It appears to have moved a little lower in the sky and a little more east of where it was.