Venus

[M G]

Good day Sir,

I was having a look up in the early morning sky in Thailand and was trying to observe Venus but noticed it was crescent shaped. Was there something eclipsing it? I have never seen that before. 

[laudropb]

No. Venus is an inner planet and goes through a cycle of phases just like the Moon.

[Stu]

That's right, currently Venus is showing a relatively thin crescent, but mid May it will be fuller and by the beginning of June it will be around half full.

These are views from SkySafari to show the changes, the last one is an image I took with my iPhone of Venus a little while back.

[John]

As above, Venus, Mercury and Mars go through a cycle of phases. Mars never gets below around 85% illuminated but it's enough to be noticable through a scope.

 

[Pete Presland]

One of the most interesting aspects of observing Venus is the constantly changing phase. If you look in the imaging section you will see some very thin crescents from a coupleof months ago. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It was actually the phases of Venus and Mercury, discovered by Galileo, that proved they circled the sun rather than the earth.

[nightfisher]

Venus is a nice easy target but shows little other than the current phase, it has a very nasty atmosphere, but an interesting surface as shown by a Russian  Venera lander if i  remember correctly

[HnrKS]

7 hours ago, John said:

As above, Venus, Mercury and Mars go through a cycle of phases. Mars never gets below around 85% illuminated but it's enough to be noticable through a scope.

 

In a way, Saturn has phases too.. It looses a percent or some and puts a shadow on rings creating 3D effect.

[Dave In Vermont]

I'll just add: Congratulations! You've bagged a Crescent Venus!

A beautiful sight!

Dave

[Mr niall]

Congrats - I went through the same thing in January - I'd just got my scope for Christmas and it was the first thing (after the moon) that I tried to view, saw the crescent and thought "what? Is my telescope broken?" Had to google it. Very cool though - especially when you consider how bright it is with even just that little crescent showing!