Earthed

What planet am I seeing in the sky at night?

I'm sure it's a planet, 'cause it wasn't there a month ago. It's insanely bright-- the brightest thing in the sky, sans the moon. It's in the southern sky late at night. I've also seen it at twilight. I live in the north eastern United States. What planet is it? It's been bugging me for several weeks now.

Public Comments

1. It's surley not jupiter because that represents the assemblees
   
   of god
2. It's more than likely that you are seeing venus. It has recently appeared and should be visible for another month or so.
3. Venus often shows itself in the evening or morning.
   
   Also known as the morning star, it is very bright indeed.
   
   Mars shows considerably more red.
   
   The other planets look more like normal stars - they're nowhere near as bright as Venus.
   
   
   
   If you want to know for sure, download the free program Stellarium (just Google for it).
   
   You have to tell it where you are, and it shows you the night sky with all the stars and planets, at any given time.
4. That is the planet Venus, the second brightest object in the night sky (after the moon) Right now you can see Venus starting at sunset and it is referred to as "The Evening Star." The planet will become brighter every night until its orbit takes it past Earth, after that point it will appear brightly in the early morning sky (and it will be called "The Morning Star"). It will become less bright every day until it disappears from the sky altogether (it disappears for about 50 days) and then faintly reappears in the evening sky. It will again grow brighter in the evening sky and the cycle repeats itself.
   
   
   
   addendum: Here is a helpful link:
   
   http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070518_ns_planet_parade.html
5. thik it is Venus
6. I agree, sounds like Venus to me for sure.
7. I blv it's Jupiter cuz it's there in the southern sky really late at night (around like 1-2 am) nowadays...
8. I thik you're seeig two different planets. The planet in the southern sky late at night is Jupiter. The planet in the western sky at twilight is Venus.