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Currently viewable planets


Ant

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This is actually a very nice time to be a planet viewer...

Mercury is too damn low to be viewable at the moment.

Venus is very low down in the SSW just after sunset, due to the low altitude you need a great SW horizon before you'll get to see it.

Mars is stunning - just about the best it's going to get for us....

Saturn, in the early hours, is very high in the sky and was very obvious at 5am this morning - haven't looked at it yet but it's always a great sight!

Jupiter is just starting pull away from the sun now, and won;t be ling before it's riding high in the sky again.

Keep an eye out for the Moon/Venus conjunction on the 5th - if you have a really good SW horizon this is going to look really NICE. At 4.42pm they are only 2 Degrees 47 Minutes apart (but only 8 degrees above the horizon).

All in all a great time to be a planet spotter :clouds1:

Ant

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I was viewing Saturn the other night pretty damn fine it was too! The cassini division was great as was the enk when seeing permitted.

Venus i managed to get a look at very very briefly showed a crescent of course but no detail's..

Hope to get viewing Saturn again soon with a new scope it's just a wonderfull sight with the moon's doing there dance.

James

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Uranus and Neptune are up, too, but you need a bit of aperture.

Thanks Astroman, what aperture would you recommend for eye-to-eyepiece viewing?

Steve :clouds1:

I've seen Uranus in a 4" refractor, but you need probably a minimum of a 6" to get a good disk on Neptune.

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.... To say I was mesmerized would do no justice to the emotions I felt. I can hardly wait to see Jupiter

Way to go Spud,

I think the last time I felt like that over a planet was when I saw the shadow of Jupiter's moon Io on the planet surface.  To my embarrassment, I actually jumped up and down with excitement :toothy7:

Greg (Phattire) and I were also observing last night looking at Mars.  (Finally, I got to see it; I was beginning to fear I'd miss it and have to wait another thirteen years!!).  It was in part, a bit dissapointing.  It was big and orange all right, and it showed surface shading but I could not make out the ice cap.  I guess I have been spoilt by some of the Mars pix posted here recently. 

Pleiades and the Orion Nebula were stunning; Pleiades even showed nebulosity :clouds1:

Steve

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I'd go with that Steve,

For me Mars was a dissapointment - just an orange disk, I could make out some shading in the 8" but I couldn't see the polar cap in neither your 10" Dob or my 8" Newt - There again my eyesight is not too good.

For me it was the Orion Nebula - Superb!

Pleiades was a nice object with some nebulosity - however I couldn't get my scope on it as it was directly overhead at the time unless I subjected my self to some weird yoga position!!

I hope the wife has forgiven you for me dragging you out at 11pm!!! :nono: But I think it was worth it due to the quality of sky.

Get more organised next time and do a Messier Marathon!!

Greg

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Mars was the first planet I ever looked at through a scope so it does hold a special place for me. But in all honesty, seeing those rings on Saturn blew that little red disk out of my mind.

I've been desperately dissapointed with what my eye can see when looking at Mars, spoilt by the digital age I guess. But Saturn was huge, it was clear, it has rings and is getting closer day by day.

I have a two year old son and I am looking forward to the day that I point at a bright star, aim my scope at it, and show him a world that spins in silence and is truly the Lord of The Rings.

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I'd agree - we are definitely spoilt by the digital age, and the superb images of James. I find wonder in all of it - the fact that you are looking at something that only a minute % of the world's population has seen.

Just shows the huge difference between what you can see, and what you can image!

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Well, thats Greg taken of, what about the wife????

ROFLMHO :clouds1: :clouds1: :clouds1:

I can remember seeing Saturn in my little ETX for the first time - that did it for me! Even dragged the wife out of bed at 2am to have a look.

When I show Astro virgins the ringed planet they always say something like"Is that really Saturn" Or they have a look down the front of the scope to check that I havn't stuck a sticker or something on the lens!! :shock:

Havn't had a chance to see Saturn in the 8" yet - really looking forward to that one.

As for the digital photo's on the forum - they're on a par, if not better than the ones in the magazines.

I take my hat off to you guys

Greg

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Leaving work is just a great time to spot Venus and Mars at present. I park my car on the top, open air, 9th floor of a Multistory near Heathrow and tonight got a great view of Mars low in the East and Venus low in the West with the Half Moon in between. Add to this the trail of lights of incoming Aircraft. What a sight, and no optical aid! It really cheered me up after a tough day in the office.

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