What is the bright star next to the moon in the sky recently?

I am in Birmingham UK, for the past week or so I have noticed a bright constant star close to the moon as the moon becomes full. What is this star? Is is a planet? Can any stargazer help me learn more about the object of my fascination? By the stars-I beseech you!|||Jupiter; the fact that you saw it as 'constant' helps to identify it as a planet, as stars twinkle.





Remember that Venus is nearer the sun than Earth is. This means that we either don't see it at all because we are looking toward the sun's brightness, or we see it only near the horizon after sunset ('Evening Star') or before sunrise ('Morning Star'). So, it is never seen high in the sky, never seen in the dark of night.|||Jupiter.|||Its Jupiter.





Take a pair of binoculars with you tonite - and look - you should see 3 or 4 of the moons of Jupiter lined up near it.|||Venus - the planet .. It's the 2nd brightest object in the night sky. This time it can be seen near the moon .|||its jupiter.