Anyone observing the conjunction?

[Nova2000]

Hi. Will anyone observe the conjunction today? If so, will both the planets be visible in a 6inch /5inch skywatcher /astromaster with a 40mm eyepiece? 

Also the local club is planning to project it on a screen. 

Asi=laptop= projector =scrren

It's a 10''f4 GSO astrograph with a zwo290/Canon 700d.

Will both the planets be visible in same field? 

[Victor Boesen]

Looking clear so far.. Didn't have the opportunity to observe mars and neptune, so i will try this one

[Knighty2112]

Hopefully, as long as the skies are clear. Got. Semi- APO filter coming today which will tone down Venus in my scope, so hoping to test that out later on too.  

[Aikidoamigo]

Not watched one of these before, what's the best time for it tonight?

last night it was a good clear view despite the moon so should be able to enjoy this evening too.

[Victor Boesen]

27 minutes ago, Aikidoamigo said:

Not watched one of these before, what's the best time for it tonight?

last night it was a good clear view despite the moon so should be able to enjoy this evening too.

Observe when it is as dark as possible, because neptune is really faint.

[DRT]

If anyone is doing this with a big scope they might also want to go asteroid spotting

[furrysocks2]

1 hour ago, Nova2000 said:

It's a 10''f4 GSO astrograph with a zwo290/Canon 700d.

Will both the planets be visible in same field? 

Judging by eye in stellarium, Venus and Neptune are separated by about 0.6 degrees.

Using http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php, I think the Canon should give 1.27x0.85 degrees, and the ZWO (1/3" sensor?) probably only a quarter of a degree.

Better checking yourself, I just did a quick check.

[Knighty2112]

Here's the view from Skysafari for the conjunction at 18:15 UK time. FOV with a 80mm ED 'frac using a TV 10mm EP. Both planets fit easily into the FOV.

 

 

[Guest]

not this one. im working tonight :(. sods law as well. ive just been off for 3 days and first day back something interesting happens. how did you know the Conjunction was happening today. im still very new to all this and not sure how best to keep track of upcoming events

[furrysocks2]

4 minutes ago, Dakaar said:

im still very new to all this and not sure how best to keep track of upcoming events

Me, too - I have "Mobile Observatory" for Android, which gives a page of events by day. Busy week - Ceres best evening visibility today, Venus largest evening elongation, today, Venus and Neptune in conjunction tonight, Jupiter best morning visibility of the year on Sat, Vesta at maximum brightness on Wed, Moon and Jupiter conjunction (1.9 degrees) on Thursday morning, etc.

[Guest]

i was looking into the mobile observatory a few weeks ago but didnt commit. worth the purchase you think? i do have a site which should give week by week events but missed this one right off

[Knighty2112]

Skysafari has a Sky and Telescope round up of events, so this can be used also if you have the app to predict upcoming things.

 

[Nova2000]

As per stellerium it's at 8 cause at 9 Venus sets(Indian standard time) 

[Stub Mandrel]

A tough sight to photograph. Venus mag -4.06, Neptune mag 4.43 so venus is about 70,000 times as bright!

[Nova2000]

Can anyone calculate if my scopes can see both in the same view? 

[Paul M]

8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

A tough sight to photograph. Venus mag -4.06, Neptune mag 4.43 so venus is about 70,000 times as bright!

Indeed, certainly worth sweeping by if you have the scope out anyway.

Enough magnification to see Neptune as a disk and Venus won't be in the same field of view but it's perhaps a useful aid for people to find Neptune without GOTO or protracted star-hopping. But this event has the potential to be very underwhelming to the unsuspecting

[Knighty2112]

20 minutes ago, Nova2000 said:

Can anyone calculate if my scopes can see both in the same view? 

At 1,125mm focul length with your 150mm Skywatcher reflector and using a stock 10mm 50 degree APOV plossl you should still get both planets in the same EP view as below. If your EP gives a wider AFOV then they will fit in even more in your EP view. 

[furrysocks2]

27 minutes ago, Nova2000 said:

Can anyone calculate if my scopes can see both in the same view? 

Focal length of your scope divided by focal length of eyepiece gives you magnification.

Apparent field of view (AFOV) of your eyepiece divided by magnification gives you true/telescopic field of view (TFOV).

[Nova2000]

So I think I'll try with the astromaster. 

[goodricke1]

Snowing here, not going to see this one.

[John]

If it's clear I'll be observing it

Ethos eyepieces are really good for this sort of event - really large true field of view even at high powers

I should be able to use the 6mm Ethos with my ED120 refractor dob for 150x and still get both planets in the same FoV. I used that combination on the Uranus / Moon conjunction a while back and the view of the lunar limb with the pale blue disk of Uranus hanging above was really stunning

 

[Moonshane]

Me too but raining currently.

[Moonshane]

Although just maybe 

 

[laudropb]

Unlikely to be able to view it here. The forecast is terrible.

[John]

The forecast here is very dodgy too but I'm being an optimist

As long as it's not actually raining I'll have the scope out read just in case there are any breaks in the cloud.