You are probably seeing the planet Saturn which is in that position for a few more weeks (Jan 2009). It will fall below the horizon toward the end of the month and start appearing in the morning sky rather than the night sky. There are five good candidates for "bright star low in the eastern sky". Do you recognize the constellation Orion? The red giant star Belegeuse is at the left shoulder of Orion, while Rigel is his right knee. Do you see Orion's belt? Follow the line of the belt up, to find the red giant Aldebaran. Follow Orion's belt down to find the bright bluish star Sirius. Left of Sirius you will see Procyon.
Since the sun (a star) is so bright, no other star can shine during the daytime.
venus
Jupiter rises around 9 PM, and is the brightest thing in the eastern sky this week.
Jupiter ....maybe...looked at it through our telescope.
Meteor
venus
We cannot say for certain, but it if was very bright and visible shortly before sunrise then it was probably not a star but the planet Venus.
Probably Jupiter.
That completely depends on what the date was when you saw it. These things completely change as time goes on.
No. Sigma Octans is a star close to the south pole of the sky, but it is not particularly bright.
It depends on the time of year and where the planets are in their orbits. In many cases the "star" is not a star at all but a planet. Venus is the most likely candidate.
The bright ones
This bright object is likely the planet Venus, known as the "Morning Star" when it appears in the eastern sky before sunrise. Venus is often one of the brightest objects in the sky and is easily visible during the predawn hours.
There is no particularly bright star near the south pole of the sky. A nearby star is Sigma Octans, but it is not as bright a star as Polaris (the North Star).
yes it is but you could also say: South Africa shined like a bright star in the sky.
Magnitude