Hey, DU'ers, what is that very bright star low in the western sky?

[morningglory]

Looks like one big star or planet, but could it be the Pleides or how you spell it?

[Guaranteed]

1. If it's low on the horizon right after sundown, and very bright,

then it's probably Venus. :)

[PinkTiger]

2. And if it is later,

It is Jupiter.

[tjwash]

11. It's Venus

Because of the orbit closer to the sun than we are, you see it for a little while after dusk, as the brightest object next to the moon. Saturn, and Jupiter are also out and about a little later. Take your Binocs after midnight, and you can see the 4 big moons around it also.

[krkaufman]

3. perhaps....

... just an atmospheric reflection of North Korea, shortly after Bush pressed The Button?

[EstimatedProphet]

4. The Pleaides is a star cluster

You'd see individual points. This time of night, almost certainly Venus.

[SmileyBoy]

5. It's Venus.

It's definitely Venus.

[tigereye]

6. yes, but there also seems to be a very bright one

about 2 0'clock as you face the west... after 8/9pm. I thought it was Jupiter, since it was too high up for Venus and also too late.

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Check out this link for nifty skycharts

You can pick your location and use the default current date and time or change the date and time as you wish and it will show a sky chart with the prominent stars, planets etc. labelled for your edification and enlightenment.

When I picked Toronto as my location and set the time for 22:15 it showed Venus was low on the Western Horizon

http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.php

[morningglory]

8. Many thanks, eh!? n/t

[Grey]

10. Sooooo Cool

Thank you so much, have sent this off to all and sundry.

9. You Mean That One?

The one that seems to be gatting larger and lar... *!*

!!!INCOMING!!!