That is indeed Venus. It became visible before the sun even set.
We are near our closest point to it in the earths' orbit round the sun. Jupiter is now fainter ( it is about 10 o'clock to Venus) hence why last night Jupiter wasn't special through the telescope.
Mars is visible tonight too, and all through the winter - in the SE sky - clearly it is orangy red. Stay up past midnight, and Saturn becomes visible.
Still, the most amazing thing in the night sky for me, has to be this:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkjuIoCorTE[/YOUTUBE]
The distances and maths are mind blowing! Why I love it so much!
This picture was taken through the same telescope as what I have, a celestron nexstar 4SE....
There is nothing quite as stunning as looking at Saturn - it truly is beautiful!