VENUS in daylight 12 March 2017

[mikeDnight]

After a murky day the sky cleared before sunset and Venus put on a beautiful show. It made my day to see the thin crescent phase with razor sharp cusps. It isn't often that I use colour filters but tonight I decided to give them a go. In white light I detected bright spots near both cusps but the cusps themselves extended beyond the spots. Other bright spots were detected along the terminator and confirmed by the use of Wrattan filters. The W15 Yellow, gave me a very similar view to white light as far as detail was concerned. My W80A Blue emphasised the bright spots and In fact added one to my catch, so filters are worth the extra effort. My W21 Orange, emphasised the already seen dusky markings.

Mike

[N3ptune]

Thanks for sharing your report using the color filters, it's not happening all day and it's interesting for me. I believe they can help on many things because some credible people get results out of them. can't wait to get some colour filter eventually.  What kind of filter do you use for white light on Venus?

The sketch is beautiful also.

[mikeDnight]

56 minutes ago, N3ptune said:

Thanks for sharing your report using the color filters, it's not happening all day and it's interesting for me. I believe they can help on many things because some credible people get results out of them. can't wait to get some colour filter eventually.  What kind of filter do you use for white light on Venus?

The sketch is beautiful also.

White light is unfiltered. ☺

Mike

[N3ptune]

But what about the white light sun? I must use a filter to look at it. I am confused.

Thanks

 

[mikeDnight]

9 hours ago, N3ptune said:

But what about the white light sun? I must use a filter to look at it. I am confused.

Thanks

 

White light solar can be projected unfiltered and the image viewed on a projection screen. However, due to the extreme brilliance of the Sun, viewing directly through any telescope requires either a full aperture solar filter such as Mylar, or a Herschel solar wedge. So, the primary purpose of filtering sunlight is to stop your eyeballs setting on fire! Venus, though bright, poses no threat to the eye and so requires no filters. Coloured filters can be used in planetary observing to enhance certain features, for example blue filters can aid in detection of bright areas such as clouds or polar caps on Mars. Orange and red filters can be used to help reveal dusky markings. Filters also reduce the glare on bright objects like Venus, thereby making some subtle features more easily discernible. 

With regard to solar observing, even a Herschel wedge, which redirects the harmful rays of the Sun away from the eye and greatly reduces its brilliance, still requires a variable polarizing filter to further reduce the Suns light and reveal intricate detail.

Mike ?

[N3ptune]

@mikeDnight

I want to have a few colors some day to look at the planets.  We had a discussion on the forum few month ago and I don't know what happened because I still don't have the casing with all the color filters  

These are the colors I am keeping notes. Violet is supposed to be really good on Venus did you tried it?

#8 Light Yellow
#11 Yellow-Green
#12 Yellow
#15 Dark Yellow / Amber
#21 Orange W21 Orange, VENUS emphasised the already seen dusky markings.
#23A Light Red
#25 Red
#29 Dark Red
#38A Dark Blue
#47 Violet
#56 Light Green
#58 Green
#80A Blue W80A Blue VENUS emphasised the bright spots
#82A Light Blue

 

 

 

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, N3ptune said:

@mikeDnight

I want to have a few colors some day to look at the planets.  We had a discussion on the forum few month ago and I don't know what happened because I still don't have the casing with all the color filters  

These are the colors I am keeping notes. Violet is supposed to be really good on Venus did you tried it?

#8 Light Yellow
#11 Yellow-Green
#12 Yellow
#15 Dark Yellow / Amber
#21 Orange W21 Orange, VENUS emphasised the already seen dusky markings.
#23A Light Red
#25 Red
#29 Dark Red
#38A Dark Blue
#47 Violet
#56 Light Green
#58 Green
#80A Blue W80A Blue VENUS emphasised the bright spots
#82A Light Blue

 

 

 

No, I've never tried violet!

I observed Venus this evening through a friends 80mm ED with a binoviewer and paired Wrattan 80A blue filters. The view was much sharper than without the filter as the filter noticeably cut down the effects of turbulence. Bright areas were much more positive than in white light.

Mike