Object identification

[purintjp]

Can anyone tell me what the very bright object in the sky south of

Los Angeles approx. 30 to 40 degrees declination ? It seems too bright to be a planet. Time is 10PM. Thanks.

Edited September 20, 2009 by purintjp

[ajb]

Looking at Cartes du Ciel it looks like Jupiter to me.

 

I have had some good views of it here in the UK.

[purintjp]

Thanks for the info. Here in Los Angeles we have some difficult

atmospheric and illumination issues. I only had binoculars but it almost

appeared as a comet.

[ajb]

Through binoculars you should see Jupiter as a whitish-brown circle. No real detail, but the moons should be visible, depending if they are on view to us.

 

 

I have no idea what the local conditions are like in LA. However, I can imagine it is often difficult.

[DrP]

Jupiter is great! We looked at it through the university's telescope in their observatory. We saw 6 of it's moons all lined up in a plane. You can see the spot too. We all kno about it, but it is still great to see with your ow eyes through a big telescope. Autum /early winter was a good time to see it over here IIRC.

Edited September 21, 2009 by DrP
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