Can anyone identify this star?

[calibrax]

Need help with this! Took this pic at about 7pm tonight, can anyone identify the big star? I've tried to look it up but I can't find anything that seems to match. Pretty sure it's a star... its definitely not Jupiter (I have separate pics of that), and I think it's too bright to be any of the other planets at this time of year...


IMG_0020 by calibrax12, on Flickr

[-Z-]

which way were you pointing? And what vertical angle?

[calibrax]

Not sure, I took a load of pics... I think the camera was pointed almost vertically upwards, and I was facing either south or west...

EDIT: and my location is North Kent, about 30 miles east of London. Pic taken about 7pm, Sunday 15th January.

Edited by calibrax on Monday 16th January 00:23

[-Z-]

Actually I think its Vega using Stellarium.

Just saw your post, Vega was pretty low @ 7pm so maybe not?

Edited by -Z- on Monday 16th January 00:25

[WestYorkie]

Just had a look using Google Skymap on my phone and it says it is Jupiter.
At the side of it is Pisces.

[calibrax]

WestYorkie said:

Just had a look using Google Skymap on my phone and it says it is Jupiter.
At the side of it is Pisces.

No, it's definitely not Jupiter.

Sorry, there was an error in my post earlier, I was facing south or east, not west. Jupiter was in the southwest, at about 60 degrees from the horizon.

[davepen]

calibrax said:

I was facing south or east, not west. Jupiter was in the southwest, at about 60 degrees from the horizon.

Is not Venus in the SW and Jupiter south at 7pm?

[Eric Mc]

How high in the sky was it? Sirius is the brightest star (as opposed to planet) visible at the moment.

[don4l]

What camera and telescope did you use?

Don
--

[jmorgan]

Also the focal length was 300mm, says the exif.

Some where says 8 deg FOV?

Edit, 500d a cropped sensor?

Edited by jmorgan on Monday 16th January 10:59

[Road Pest]

Capella?

[The Flying Ox]

Melancholia?

[don4l]

Road Pest said:

Capella?

Well done!

CdC confirms that it is indeed Capella.

Don
--

[calibrax]

Yep, it's Capella, I see it now and have matched up some of the other stars.

Thanks for everyone's help much appreciated!

EDIT: incidentally, for those interested, the camera was a Canon EOS 500D with a 75-300mm lens. Picture was taken at f/5.6, with a 3 sec exposure at ISO 1600. Camera was mounted on a tripod, and shooting was controlled by laptop to avoid camera shake.

Edited by calibrax on Monday 16th January 16:11

[Road Pest]

No problem

ETA just been outside, the stars/sky is beautiful and clear over Leicester tonight.

Edited by Road Pest on Tuesday 17th January 00:11

[jmorgan]

calibrax said:

Yep, it's Capella, I see it now and have matched up some of the other stars.

Thanks for everyone's help much appreciated!

EDIT: incidentally, for those interested, the camera was a Canon EOS 500D with a 75-300mm lens. Picture was taken at f/5.6, with a 3 sec exposure at ISO 1600. Camera was mounted on a tripod, and shooting was controlled by laptop to avoid camera shake.

Edited by calibrax on Monday 16th January 16:11

Shutter lock up as well? Makes a hell of a difference, I use a remote lead at the moment.

[paulrussell]

I saw the star on friday evening and I wondered what it was. My colleague thought it was the north star until I told him that it's not the brightest star.

[Jinx]

So it was a trick question as it is really four stars (two binary pairs)

[Zad]

I'm impressed! I didn't expect such a sharp and relatively deep image from an SLR shot. If it were me, the next step would be to try stacking a series of 1 second shots.