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Bright Object in the Evening Sky Suffolk Virginia

-- Barry Sessoms | January 18, 2020

Question:

Hello, I live in Suffolk, VA but I work on Norfolk Naval Base. For the last few nights when the sky is clear, as I am leaving work 7 to 8 pm, I look up at the sky towards the North or Northwest and there’s a very bright large star/light or planet visible. What star or planet is it? It does not seem to be moving.

-- Barry Sessoms

Answer:

Perhaps you are seeing the planet Venus, which would be in the W/SW sky setting right around 8PM in mid-January 2020. A bit earlier, around 6PM, you can find the bright star Vega low on the NW horizon. Those are about the only current possibilities for bright star-like objects observable on the horizon from eastern Virginia.

-- Jeff Mangum

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