What star was next to the moon tonight?

Answer 1

That was the rare conjunction of the crescent moon and Venus. You will be able to find a lot of discussion on that to include some pictures. There is a pretty good one Here (http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/forums/p/25742/342502.aspx#342502) Scroll down to the post by maryccc and you will see the shot she took of it last night. In a couple more nights the moon will be next to Saturn.

Answer 2

I fired up my copy of the Stellarium planetarium program and I see that the planet Jupiter was VERY close to the Moon last night. Since Jupiter is the 4th brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, Moon and Venus), that's probably what you saw.

Answer 3

The star next to the moon tonight could vary depending on the time and location. Stars near the moon in the night sky are often bright stars like Aldebaran, Regulus, or Antares. To determine the specific star next to the moon tonight, you would need to identify the moon's current position in the sky and consult a star chart or astronomy app for real-time information.

Answer 4

Without more specific information, it is difficult to determine which star was next to the moon tonight. The appearance of stars next to the moon can vary depending on location and time. If you can provide details such as the location and time of observation, it may be possible to identify the star you saw.

Answer 5

The Sun is a pretty average star, and is closest at about 8.3 light minutes. (From the Moon to the Earth is only about 2 light-SECONDS.) Other than the Sun, the nearest star is Proxima Centauri, at about 4.2 light years distance.

Answer 6

The sun is the closest star to the moon. The moon revolves around the earth at about 238,857 miles - about 30 Earth diameters. The Earth's distance from the sun though is over roughly 93,000,000 miles - about 389 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Other planets orbit the sun as well. Here is a chart with some differences. http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-orbital-lengths-distances.html Note that Neptune is 4,913,500,000 miles - almost 53 times the distance from the Earth to the sun - 1590 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Driving non-stop at 60 miles per hour 24 hours a day 365 days a year it would take you roughly 9348 years to get to Neptune! And that's just IN our solar system. The next closest star is Proxima Centauri at 4.2 LIGHT YEARS away. A light year is VERY far. The distance light travels in a whole year. It takes just over 8 minutes for light to get from the sun to the Earth. So imagine how far it would go in an hour. Or a whole day. Now a year. OK. Now 4.2 years - that's how unbelievably far away the closest star is. 1 light-year = 63240 times the distance from the Earth to the sun (AU or astronomical unit). Every other star you see is even further away. Some are so far away you can't even write it using regular math - you need to use exponents. Needless to say, the moon moves along the sky in a totally different way than the stars do. So the moon has different stars that appear to be next to it constantly. at 10pm on May 1 a certain star may appear to be close but by midnight the moon has moved in relation to the star. On June 1 it may not even be close anymore or it may be close later in the evening. The stars rotate from the turning of the Earth. The Earth also rotates around the sun (a complete rotation is a year) so this is why the sky changes from season to season and Orion can be seen in winter and not in summer. Also, the sun revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It also runs up and down through the plan draggingt he Earth and all the other planets and moons along with it. And the Milky Way of course is screaming along outward towards the edge of the known universe. Some of the stars in the sky are in fact other galaxies so they move differently than the stars in our own galaxy. (but so slow we can't tell by just looking because of the vast differences involved). The universe is big. Very big. Nothing in space is "next to" anything. It can seem like it - much like a tree can look like it is next to the moon when it is on the horizon. But the distances in space are just absurd and you should try to avoid thinking of things as being close to each other.

Answer 7

Distancewise, the nearest star to Earth's moon is the Sun. After that, the closest star would be Proxima Centauri. It's the closest star to the Solar System. Visually, since the moon revolves around the earth, at different times different stars would appear closer to the moon. I'm not sure what you meant by your question. ____________________________ During the nights of September 2 and September 3, 2009, the Moon was next to the planet Jupiter in the sky. If you were wondering what that very bright "star" was right next to the Moon; Jupiter.

Answer 8

Our sun is the star closest to the moon.

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If the question is actually "What is the name of the star that is next to the Moon in the sky?", then the answer is "That depends on the precise time and date." I recommend the open-source planetarium program Stellarium. When you install it, you can see the night sky with all the stars, planets, and everything that you would be able to see in a mid-sized telescope.

But if you specify the date and time, one of the folks here will be happy to help you look it up.

Answer 9

On September 3 and 4, 2009, the bright "star" near the Moon is the planet Jupiter.

Answer 10

On September 3, 2009, the bright object near the Moon was Jupiter.