Thin crescent Venus

[kerrylewis]

Beautiful thin crescent Venus this evening through binoculars - just 4 days from inferior conjunction

[NGC 1502]

Well done so close to conjunction, it was clear at sunset today, but Venus too low to be seen from my town backyard, but got it last week in my 10x50s, the crescent phase obvious.

Should have made the effort today to go 3 miles to a place with a SW horizon.

Regards, Ed.

[kerrylewis]

I was surprised to see it Ed but just lucky scanning with the bins between the houses and trees to the SW

[astronymonkey]

Hi Kerry,

i saw it last week in my 16inch . I was surprised at how big it was and how thin the crescent was becoming.

Good spot so low down, well done.

[goodricke1]

Saw it this evening with a phase angle, according to Stellarium, of 0.00   Quite obvious in the 15x70s, easily the closest to conjunction I've ever seen it

[Special K]

What amazed me last time I saw Venus was how bright it was given it was just a crescent and not at full wattage! That was at least a month ago and its gone for now, but looks like Venus and Mercury will be back in the mornings with new crescents to view.

[DommyDevil18]

Last time I saw Venus full was when I was going to Denbigh in Wales in 2003 with my Dad and my brother picking up my niece and Venus was near enough as bright as the full moon it actually cast shadows.

[HumptyMoo]

Just saw Venus for the first time with my 15x70's, I was out in the back garden "fumigating" (ehem) and thought "blimey, that's one heavy duty set of lights on that plane" (often see planes coming directly towards me in the distance as they stack for Heathrow). When it didn't do the usual bank and light dim I thought "Asteroid!...we're doooomed!", then Stellarium handed me a humbug to chew on

Unfortunately it is too low on the horizon for my dob as my neighbours trees mask the view. The 15x70's from the bedroom window was still pretty awesome though, could clearly see it was a crescent...never realised it was that bright, must be quite something when full!

Going to have to see if I can haul my dob up to the loft and cut out a section of roof....reckon it's worth it overall 

Joking aside this really cheered me up, I have been Jonesing for a nice "spot" for well over a month thanks to the weather.

[kerrylewis]

Great stuff HM! It's actually brightest when it's a crescent - about now I think. Because it's near to us and when it's 'full' it's much further away on the far side if the sun and therefore dimmer

[cotterless45]

I had a chap at our group Stargazing live evening, first question " those flaming rocks up there ( points at stars ), they're big right ? Do they look small as they are so far away ?"

For some reason I kept replaying Father Ted all evening in my mind,

Nick.

[HumptyMoo]

Oh ok, makes sense, thanks for that nugget Kerry. It really is quite dramatic, I remember seeing it on certain occasions over the years before I really dug deeper into astronomy. Can't ever remember it ever being that dominant in magnitude though, I guess I just missed those times when it was.