Is this jupiter,saturn or lens flare?

A friend. visiting from houston was walking back from the local store a couple of hours ago and was excited to tell me that he got an image of thesetting sun with the moon j ust beside it using his iphone!!! I dont know too much about astronomy but I am pretty sure the moon is almost overhead at around 10 pm in this part of the world ( south west norway). Sent the image to another photographer friend and he says perhaps its lens flare.... can anyone please shed some light on this for us. My own thoughts are jupiter or saturn which research tells me both th ose planets cann be seen in this area tonight.

I doubt either Saturn or Jupiter would appear that large. That's telescope country.

That looks like the moon to me . . . If you look at the full size image, it appears to be behind the clouds.

I think it is the moon - much too large for planets in this shot.

appreciate your comments about the moon... but... the pic was taken around 10pm and at that time, in this part of the world, the moon is almost overhead. The camera (iPhone) is pointing almost NNW. and... there was no full moon yesterday

I'm going with "None of the above". It's way to big for any of the planets (inner or outer) and if the moon was in that position relative to the sun, the side facing the camera would not be receiving any sunlight. Full moons occur opposite the sun in the sky.

 

This site should be able to convince you it's not any of the known planets - 3D Diagram of the Solar System - In-The-Sky.org

Edited July 25, 2019 by lrblackburn

To me it is a lens flare.

It’s one of those spherical spaceships that’s recently been seen around the world. I think, FBI will come soon looking for his camera.

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It’s a lens flare! Your friend should have taken the word of the other photographer and it would have been the end of the story. Perhaps, he is in denial and want to believe he has captured the jackpot. Well in that case, no amount of convincing would do.

 

If you think it’s Jupiter, Saturn, look into the sky (if you are in northern hemisphere) and check the size of the planets. Jupiter is visible quite easily, Saturn should be nearby as well, just dimmer.

Wednesday, 7/24/19, the moon was in quarter phase, 90 degrees from the sun. Jupiter and Saturn are in the south, also well away from the sun, at a maximum elevation about 11:00 pm. As noted, these planets are too small to see as disks at this magnification. The round spot is lens flare, probably an internally reflected image of the sun, but possibly a dust spot on the front of the lens.

Thanks Ed... I think yours is the most plausible explanation.. When I pointed this out to my friend, he told me he is convinced that he saw the sphere behind the sun and that's why he took the image!!!!!!!! personally, I have my doubts.

Thanks Ed... I think yours is the most plausible explanation.. When I pointed this out to my friend, he told me he is convinced that he saw the sphere behind the sun and that's why he took the image!!!!!!!! personally, I have my doubts.

It is an internal reflection between the glass covering the lens and the lens. I had the same thing happen with an SLR and a UV filter.