Venus - 13 January 2012

[DarkerSky]

Got a look at Venus this afternoon in the southwest sky. Just managed to get a view of it over next door's fence and between a gap in the houses. Seeing was predictably poor, that said I got a decent look at the phase (80% illuminated) and with my red filter in place I could make out some brighter and shaded areas. The shading was really difficult to pin down, but I did my best in this sketch...

12" x150 magnification

16.25UT to 16.55UT

[dweller25]

You did well to catch the markings - I never have much luck with Venus, in fact I think it looks more spectacular with the naked eye !!

[DarkerSky]

I know what you mean David. Venus is difficult in a scope, especially at the mo being so small. By March through April it'll get bigger and should be easier to spot cloud detail. Having a wratten #25 really helps with contrast. Makes it much easier to spot brighter areas for sure.

[AlexxxAA]

Which filter is this youre talking about (Brand)?

Would most other red filters work as well? Such as Celestron, meade, or Baader?

[DarkerSky]

Which filter is this youre talking about (Brand)?

Would most other red filters work as well? Such as Celestron, meade, or Baader?

Hi Alex. This is a red filter by Kodak. They use the wratten numbers to identify filter colors / type. Wratten numbers became a sort of standard for filter ids, so I guess other manufacturers could follow this standard as well? Not sure on that, but probably worth googling.

Next time I get my scope onto Venus I'm going to try the Baader Neodymium filter I have. This does an excellent job on Jupiter for boosting low contrast features, so it could very well work too with venus