What is that bright light near the moon?

Fluffy

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
I've been watching the moon for the last few hours. There is a bright object south east that's orbiting with it. The object is wobbling, I though I was may be just a bit tired or something but everyone at my house can see the wobble too.
I was out for a few hours last night but didn't notice this bright thing then.
Anyone have any info or ideas?? I can't find anything on the internet but I also don't really know what to search for.
Sky app on my phone says it's Jupiter. Does Jupiter wobble?
 
Hello Fluffy, I went out to check, and Jupiter is sitting just under the moon. Jupiter rotates extremely quickly - once in nine hours, and the movement of its "red spot" may give you the idea that it is wobbling. The other thing about Jupiter is that it has lots of satellites, and four of them are large enough to see with the naked eye. Their positions change relatively quickly as well and this may give you the impression that Jupiter is wobbling. If you like I could lend you some binoculars to check it out with.

Interestingly, a bit further over in the sky is Mars, in the constellation of Scorpio, and it is brighter than Antares which is a Red Giant star.
 
Hey MusicMan, thanks for the reply, I could sit looking for info for hours and not come up with such a comprehensive answer. Adam just got on gumtree looking at telescopes. He said he'd get one but he takes years to make a decision so I might borrow those binoculars to have a look.

I used to get out more at night years ago and see lots of interesting things.. If we stay out long enough it's a shoe in that we will see a distant comet and other ufos..
 
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