Help please! Identifying a constellation i saw today.

Hi all.

I was hoping someone here might be able to help me identify a constellation, if it is indeed one, or just a strange star pattern wich i noticed this morning.

The last week i woke up at the crack of dawn, and as i was sitting outside i saw this strange star formation. Now, i have never noticed it, and only seen it for the last week or so.

Some details. I am in the southern hemisphere. What i see is in the east, only visible just before the sun rise. There is one very bright star, which i am sure is Venus, the morning star. But, directly underneath it is another smaller star, and towards its top right is a another star, very faint, but visible with the naked eye.

It looks kinda like this:
*
V

*

That is the shape of it. V = Venus of course.

Any help?

Thanks

VVV

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


Damn, the little diagram did not pop up like i had it in my post. Sorry.

I don't have a pic, but i will try and take one tommorrow, if it will help.

VVV

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
www.stellarium.org...

Here you go, have fun

(with this you can go back in time or forwards also)

Venus was directly over mercury on the 5th.

This would only have been visible briefly at dawn.


David Grouchy

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


Jupiter is currently on top of Venus (slightly offset to the left)
Mercury is just below Venus as well, nearly exact.

Mars also happens to be to the left of Jupiter, but it's fairly faint and you'd need clear skies to see it.

What you're witnessing is a Planetary alignment taking place right now. If you could see through the Earth, exactly opposite of them would be Saturn.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep

To wake up any morning this week, all you need to do is look out the window. Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury are aligning in the eastern sky for a spectacular dawn conjunction. Mariano Ribas photographed the gathering on May 9th from his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina:




www.spaceweather.com...

reply to post by grindhouzer


Thanks mate!!!

Yeah, that picture is exactly what i am seeing.

I have never noticed this, so i just found it kind of strange.

Thanks for the help guys.

VVv

If it looked anything like this image, then you were seeing planets. Not a constellation.

It's been raining and or cloudy for the past 11 nights straight here. I think I must have pissed off zeus or something

Here's what it would have looked like from Cape Town this morning, just minutes before sunrise: