<p><sub>This Community Wiki answer was created to preserve knowledge while other answer(s) are under review.</sub></p>
<p>From <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/users/11822/dr-chuck">Dr Chuck</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was Venus. It should have been 10 - 15 degrees above the moon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>From <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/users/2031/wayfaring-stranger">Wayfaring Stranger</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Venus is whiter than Jupiter, Saturn, or Mars, which have yellowish, yellow, and reddish tints instead. It's also usually much brighter than the other planets, including Mercury. Mercury always hangs closer to the sun than did Venus in early Feb 2017.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A bright &quot;star&quot; in the morning or evening is nearly always Venus.  However on that date a second planet was also nearby, Mars was also in the frame, though at magnitude 1.3 it would not have been brighter than a typical star.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HISh2l.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HISh2l.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-02-03T22:11:47.413Z
2024-01-01T17:07:35.963Z
2024-01-01T17:07:35.963Z
called2voyage
<p>I saw a very bright star in the night sky on Monday (Jan 30, 2017). The star was in the Western sky and was directly above the crescent moon.</p>

<p>My location is Toronto, Ontario. Canada. It was about 8pm at night, but by 10pm the star had disappeared over the horizon.</p>

<p>I'm sure this was a planet as it shined brighter then any of the other stars, but I couldn't guess which one.</p>

<p>Can you identify this planet for me?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-02T14:05:55.917Z
You should look around.  There are plenty of websites which tell you the location of the planets now or at any desired date.  Also -- get a telescope or a nice pair of binoculars & you'll be able to see a lot more of the planets & some of their moons.
Carl Witthoft
<star><planet>
Can you identify this planet seen in the night sky?
Reactgular
# Can you identify this planet seen in the night sky?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-02)

I saw a very bright star in the night sky on Monday (Jan 30, 2017). The star was in the Western sky and was directly above the crescent moon.

My location is Toronto, Ontario. Canada. It was about 8pm at night, but by 10pm the star had disappeared over the horizon.

I'm sure this was a planet as it shined brighter then any of the other stars, but I couldn't guess which one.

Can you identify this planet for me?

**Tags:** star, planet

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You should look around.  There are plenty of websites which tell you the location of the planets now or at any desired date.  Also -- get a telescope or a nice pair of binoculars & you'll be able to see a lot more of the planets & some of their moons.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-02-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

This Community Wiki answer was created to preserve knowledge while other answer(s) are under review.

From [Dr Chuck](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/users/11822/dr-chuck):

> It was Venus. It should have been 10 - 15 degrees above the moon.

From [Wayfaring Stranger](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/users/2031/wayfaring-stranger):

> Venus is whiter than Jupiter, Saturn, or Mars, which have yellowish, yellow, and reddish tints instead. It's also usually much brighter than the other planets, including Mercury. Mercury always hangs closer to the sun than did Venus in early Feb 2017.

A bright "star" in the morning or evening is nearly always Venus. However on that date a second planet was also nearby, Mars was also in the frame, though at magnitude 1.3 it would not have been brighter than a typical star.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/HISh2l.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/HISh2l.png)


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