Is there meant to be a star next to the moon?

Just went for a ciggarette outside, and there is a star next to the moon, closer than I have ever seen before. I'm in NSW/Australia, Just saw it then, haven't seen any news links to it yet.

In all my years on earth i've never seen a star so close to the moon.. Could be jupiter though?

Just thought I'd throw this out considering all of the talk about asteroids and meteors at the moment.

If you in Aust, plz go outside and look and tell me if you see it. I tried to photograph it but all I get is blur (camera is small point and shoot).
The moon is approx half full, and the star is almost on the edge of where the moon's outline would be if it were full. If someone has a telescope plz have a look and let us know.

www.stellarium.org...

you can check with this

I cant see where i am, to much cloud cover. As much as i wish to be Nibiru, i believe it is Jupiter.
Just checked on stellarium and their right next to each other.

reply to post by bigdohbeatdown


Hello! The is a program you can download free on the internet called 'Stellarium' that is an astronomial observatory for your desktop. Just checked an the Moon is just below the horizon now here but is traveling in very close company with the planet Venus and Aldeberan, the red 'eye' in Taurus, the bull. Hope this helps. Cheers. R.

reply to post by hoonsince89


Rock on fellow Stellarium affectionado !

i am in Texas, USA..it still dark and the sun does not rise for another hour...I cannot see the Moon...But I see that HUGE STAR you are talking about

reply to post by Zeta Reticulan


Solid on the Stellarium! I have a picture I drew for Coast to Coast am you might like to see, can I send it to you ?

The Moon moves, Earth rotates, stars move relative to Earth.

reply to post by bigdohbeatdown


Bit of rain and lots of cloud cover here in mid nth. coast.
A previous poster mentioned stellarium, it's free and very good for the enquiring mind.

I have seen a star appearing as being close to the moon for a few months last year.
I think it was Jupiter - I am on my Wifes' commandeered lappy atm - no stellarium.

Hey, I can see it very well !! Im in Central West /nsw.....it is definately jupiter...but my god, it looks amazing

Hey thanks all for quick responses. I gonna check out Stellarium. 60 meg and low rent internet :/ Will get back to you in a bit.

The star is not next to the moon, it's far behind it. It's your viewing perspective that makes it look beside the moon. Imagine someone standing 10 ft away and someone standing 100 ft away.

What you seen was Jupiter, it is very bright this time of year, magnitude -2.13 did you see it next to another shiny shiny?, that was Aldebaran, should have been just underneath it.

Tonight it will be even closer.

Btw if you look East in the mornings you will see Venus rising, magnitude of around -4.0, quite pleasing to see.

I'm just curious... How long should Jupiter stay in the same exact position to Aldebran? I have been watching for months and every night there is Jupiter with Aldebran the same exact distance from it (naked eye). Jupiter has its own orbit so it seems to me it should not be in the same position night after night. All of our other planets have been moving around. I know Jupiter has a slow orbit bit in a couple months time it should have some movement noticable in relation to the stars around it, right?

reply to post by wastedown


It'll start to shift away from Aldebaran around Easter, but Jupiter stays with Taurus untill about summer then moves into Gemini and will follow Gemini for at least a year.

That star next to the moon is Jupiter.

February 18 - Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter. The Moon will pass less than one degree from the giant planet Jupiter in the evening sky. The first quarter moon will be at magnitude -11.9 and Jupiter will be at magnitude -2.4. Look for both objects in the west after sunset. The pair will be visible in the evening sky for about 7 hours after sunset.

www.seasky.org...

It was good to see.

reply to post by bigdohbeatdown


Hmm. I just assumed it was Venuse, but no.

Venus will begin to re-emerge very low in the west-northwest evening sky shortly after sunset during the second half of April. From then on, it will spend the rest of 2013 getting progressively higher and more prominent as an evening object. But it won't be until nearly nine months from now, on Sept. 8, that it will again have a close encounter with the moon.

If anyone in the UK is interested thats Jupiter now visible with the naked eye.

Originally posted by Tuttle
If anyone in the UK is interested thats Jupiter now visible with the naked eye.

Yes, we've been lucky these last few nights and Jupiter is having a close encounter with the Moon tonight, (visually that is) in fact I missed a possible photo op as the ISS strolled by as well, a few minutes ago. Here though, we are all more puzzled by the daylight sighting of that huge yellow thing in the sky!

reply to post by bigdohbeatdown


Well Aldebaran isn't far from the Moon, but it's in close conjunction with Jupiter tonight and that's the bright 'star' you can see.

This was last night:



Jupiter is the brightest 'star' near the Moon. The Pleiades can be seen just above the Moon. Hopefully everyone recognises Orion?