Venus to date

[mikeDnight]

This afternoon 15/3/17, with a blue sky and full Sun. I thought I'd try for Venus as it approaches its thinnest. It's not there yet but its a beautiful sight if anyone fancies the challenge in daylight. I observed from my run off roof observatory, so the Sun was just below the observatory wall as I swept the sky with 16×70 binoculars from my swivel chair. Eventually I found it set against a bright, almost blinding, sky background. I quickly and carefully aimed the scope mounted on its equatorial at the planet and brought the image to focus. Using W80A Blue and W21 Orange filters, I studied the incredibly thin crescent for bright spots and dusky markings. Attached is not only today's sketch, but a collection of Venus sketches made over the current apperition, just to illustrate the phase changes. (I must apologise in advance, as I am untamed as regards orientation. I observe using a prism most of the time, but to make matters worse, I rotate the prism to suit my own comfort and disposition. This all makes for a totally confusing set of sketches for those who like to adhere strictly to the IAU method of orientation). Of course some do conform to IAU. Make of it what you will! 

Thanks for looking. 

Mike

 

[John]

Great series Mike

I managed to catch Venus at early evening today, about 20 minutes before it "sets" behind our western conifer hedge. The phase was clear even with the 6x30 finder and the planet absorbed magnification well with the Tak FC100. I even used 450x, for a giggle, for a while

I think the illumination is 4.4% this evening which is the thinnest that I've seen it. 

 

[Owmuchonomy]

Marvellous presentation.  What a great talent.  The details on Mars are good considering its current size.

[laudropb]

Very nice summary of the phases Mike .

[Stu]

Lovely set Mike. Proper orientation is over rated I think, never managed it myself in any images I have taken!  

Finally managed to catch Venus again myself tonight for a very short session with the Tak and Mak, both pretty much uncooled, so Venus was boiling away but still lovely to see such a thin crescent. Same as John this is the thinnest I've seen it.

I saw the crescent very clearly in a tiny pair of 8x20 binoculars, amazing how easy it is.

I find Venus a fascinating way of visually being able to understand the orbit of a planet. By that I mean that over the last few months we have clearly seen Venus move from greatest elongation, following the sun towards setting, to its position now which is pretty much vertically above the sun.

[Size9Hex]

Lovely series of sketches. This has been my first season observing Venus and it has been surprisingly compelling seeing it evolve. Caught it tonight as well and quite surprised just how bright it is to the naked eye, given that in the scope there's almost nothing left of it now!

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Lovely set Mike. Proper orientation is over rated I think, never managed it myself in any images I have taken!  

Finally managed to catch Venus again myself tonight for a very short session with the Tak and Mak, both pretty much uncooled, so Venus was boiling away but still lovely to see such a thin crescent. Same as John this is the thinnest I've seen it.

I saw the crescent very clearly in a tiny pair of 8x20 binoculars, amazing how easy it is.

I find Venus a fascinating way of visually being able to understand the orbit of a planet. By that I mean that over the last few months we have clearly seen Venus move from greatest elongation, following the sun towards setting, to its position now which is pretty much vertically above the sun.

Great diagrams Stu! I have to confess I've to really concentrate at times to picture the real life positions of the planet's relative to the Sun, especially as I seem he'll bent on rebelling against IAU convention.  The diagrams are a great visual aid!

I'm glad you and John had a good view today, and that John used silly high powers just for the giggle. It all adds to the enjoyment! Infact I find it inspiring to learn that others are having such a great time on a target that to many is telescopically disappointing.

Mike ?

P.S.  I meant to write 'Wrattan' and not Wattan for the filters I used on today's sketch. I sound like Elmer Fudd!

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Great diagrams Stu! I have to confess I've to really concentrate at times to picture the real life positions of the planet's relative to the Sun, especially as I seem he'll bent on rebelling against IAU convention.  The diagrams are a great visual aid!

I'm glad you and John had a good view today, and that John used silly high powers just for the giggle. It all adds to the enjoyment! Infact I find it inspiring to learn that others are having such a great time on a target that to many is telescopically disappointing.

Mike ?

P.S.  I meant to write 'Wrattan' and not Wattan for the filters I used on today's sketch. I sound like Elmer Fudd!

I'm a fairly recent convert to Venus I must say. I've looked at it in the past and had such appalling views I've never really bothered for long. Although atmospheric turbulence and CA often seem to be a problem, the views of the developing crescent since the beginning of the year have been very rewarding, if infrequent due to the cloud.

[niallk]

Great series of sketches!  Caught it at ~7% illumination at 230x in my 10" and just beautiful, and also a while back when it was ~60% lit.  To be able to see with your own eyes the same phase/size progression that Galileo saw and cited as evidence that the planets orbit the sun rather than the earth is something special

[mikeDnight]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

I'm a fairly recent convert to Venus I must say. I've looked at it in the past and had such appalling views I've never really bothered for long. Although atmospheric turbulence and CA often seem to be a problem, the views of the developing crescent since the beginning of the year have been very rewarding, if infrequent due to the cloud.

I've never really been a fan of coloured filters for planetary, until now. As far as Venus is concerned, I've found the blue 80A filter really sharpens up the image in a turbulent atmosphere. The effect really can be impressive! If you have any coloured filters lying around Stu, you might like to give them a go as Venus nears the Sun.

Mike

[colin2007]

Brilliant set of sketches Mike that illustrates Venus size and shape has it heads towards the sun.

[mikeDnight]

13 hours ago, John said:

Great series Mike

I managed to catch Venus at early evening today, about 20 minutes before it "sets" behind our western conifer hedge. The phase was clear even with the 6x30 finder and the planet absorbed magnification well with the Tak FC100. I even used 450x, for a giggle, for a while

I think the illumination is 4.4% this evening which is the thinnest that I've seen it. 

 

Im glad im not the only loone around here, i was begining to feel lonely! X450 is good going, especially as Venus was low down.  I think I'm going to have to observe it in daylight while its quite high from now on, as its dropping behind the high tree line on my western horizon at dusk. If youve a blue filter lying around John, you might find it helps to cut out some of the turbulence and sharpen the view when the planet's low.

Mike 

[John]

12 hours ago, Stu said:

I'm a fairly recent convert to Venus I must say. I've looked at it in the past and had such appalling views I've never really bothered for long. Although atmospheric turbulence and CA often seem to be a problem, the views of the developing crescent since the beginning of the year have been very rewarding, if infrequent due to the cloud.

I feel the same about Venus this time around. Probably thanks to posts like yours on this forum Mike, I've payed the planet much more attention and it's been rewarding

I think this demonstrates the power of active forums such as SGL over books, magazines and even societies. The whole process of browsing, commenting, posting reports, sketches and images provides a real motivation to get out there and "do it"

I have to say that the impact that the forum can have much more defines  "stargazing live" than the BBC interpretation does, IMHO.

[Stu]

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I've never really been a fan of coloured filters for planetary, until now. As far as Venus is concerned, I've found the blue 80A filter really sharpens up the image in a turbulent atmosphere. The effect really can be impressive! If you have any coloured filters lying around Stu, you might like to give them a go as Venus nears the Sun.

Mike

I had my filter wheel on the Tak, and have Televue Mars A and B filters in there, basically pretty narrow bandwidth orange filters and these definitely tightened up the view. I do have some coloured filters so may pop these in to see how well they work, although Venus is rapidly disappearing!!

[niallk]

5 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I've never really been a fan of coloured filters for planetary, until now. As far as Venus is concerned, I've found the blue 80A filter really sharpens up the image in a turbulent atmosphere. The effect really can be impressive! If you have any coloured filters lying around Stu, you might like to give them a go as Venus nears the Sun.

Mike

Intriguing suggestion - can't wait to try it out!!  I guess the red end of the light spectrum is getting refracted/dispersed by a greater amount vs time with turbulence compared to blue light??  I've a selection of colours filters that tbh I've never really used much.  Just hope for some cloud free evenings real soon

[mikeDnight]

On 16/03/2017 at 11:32, John said:

I feel the same about Venus this time around. Probably thanks to posts like yours on this forum Mike, I've payed the planet much more attention and it's been rewarding

I think this demonstrates the power of active forums such as SGL over books, magazines and even societies. The whole process of browsing, commenting, posting reports, sketches and images provides a real motivation to get out there and "do it"

I have to say that the impact that the forum can have much more defines  "stargazing live" than the BBC interpretation does, IMHO.

I couldn't agree more John! I haven't been able to help but notice lately, how the visual observers seem to feed off each others enthusiasm. I'm sure imagers do the same, but as I'm purely a visual observer, I'm more attuned to notice what I'm most interested in. 

There is a wealth of information on SGL which is truly valuable. I wonder what will happen to that information in years to come? I imagine it will eventually be deleted and lost, which would be a great shame, as much of the information deserves to be securely archived. Association's such as the BAA, AAVSO and ALPO I suspect have carefully kept archives. But even if SGL does not archive data, its still a terrific way for like minded people to share information and encouragement. SGL certainly enhances our enjoyment of astronomy and offers a place to vent our frustration, as well as somewhere to have fun. If SGL ran serious observing programmes it would be very much like a astronomical society. But of course we don't have to be involved in a serious programme to be serious about enjoying our observing.  

Mike

[JeremyS]

This is a wonderful set of sketches, Mike. You have recorded the current apparition well.

All the best,

Jeremy