Venus/Jupiter Conjunction; lovely, but could have gone better....

[Stu]

With a fabulous looking forecast, I set the alarm for 5.30am, intending to take my scope up into the Heath where there is a low Eastern horizon, ideal for the conjunction.

So, Tak on my back in its Geoptik case, tripod/AZGTI in one hand and eyepiece case and battery in the other, I set off down the lane. I guess it is 1/3 of a mile to where I wanted to observe and this session proved it was easily achievable. On arrival it was lovely to see the Crescent moon with earthshine near Leo and Orion heading towards the horizon, not what you expect at this time of year!

I got setup easily, spying Venus and Jupiter a degree or so above the horizon, looking lovely. As I powered on and went for the first alignment star, my first mistake became clear..... no finder. Not a disaster I thought, with a 24mm Pan I should be able to eyeball the scope into place for the first star, which I chose as Betelgeuse. It was whilst panning around for it that my second mistake became clear. I could not see anything through the eyepiece, and then it dawned on me (pun intended) that I had also forgotten the extension tube which allows me to reach focus with the Tak Prism which is very short optically.

Even with every connection pulled out as far as I dared, I still had to pull the eyepiece out of the prism to reach focus. Managing a basic alignment, I sent the scope to point at Venus, and did manage to see both planets in the eyepiece, albeit a bit wobbly and also suffering with the orange glow of the atmosphere that low and the poor seeing. Hmmm, not the wonderful view I was hoping for.

Overall though it was a joy to be out. Lovely crisp morning with a touch of frost. The crows and seagulls were drifting overhead (gulls heading for the reservoirs) and no one about at all.

After taking this all in, I packed up and headed back home. The planets were high enough now to see from the Lane near my house so I grabbed the binos and finally had a very nice view of the two planets. Venus extremely bright, and Jupiter more of a greyish disc in comparison. No sign of the moons, the sky was too bright I guess.

So, an interesting morning. I learned a few lessons on preparation, but proved to myself that I can easily get the kit up onto the Heath for some darker skies and a better horizon. The conjunction was disappointing in the scope, too low for sharp views and not helped by my mistakes, but it was beautiful to the naked eye and in binoculars. Glad I made the effort to get up.

[Paul73]

Well done for making it out of bed. I decided against staying up for this one. Frost bite was setting in by 05:30, so I elected for warming the feet on Mrs 73, instead of legging it up the hill for an eastern horizon.

Paul

 

[johnfosteruk]

I was out at 05:30 doing the moon and stayed out for this. Glad I did. Birds singing, planets rising, sky brightening. Very much worth it

 

[Stu]

16 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Well done for making it out of bed. I decided against staying up for this one. Frost bite was setting in by 05:30, so I elected for warming the feet on Mrs 73, instead of legging it up the hill for an eastern horizon.

Paul

 

I bet she enjoyed that Paul  

Presume you had a good night observing though?

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, johnfosteruk said:

I was out at 05:30 doing the moon and stayed out for this. Glad I did. Birds singing, planets rising, sky brightening. Very much worth it

Lovely shots and time lapse John. Was a fab morning to be out  

[andrew63]

Great morning Stu - glad you overcame a few hiccups !  It's like experiencing all that nature has to offer at that time of day.

 

andrew

[MarsG76]

Congrats on getting out of bed, let along to wander off to your site... Whether you had poor seeing and a lack of extension tube, I bet it's still something you will remember.

 

[MarsG76]

Beautiful looking morning.

[chiltonstar]

I was surprised to be able to see Jupiter detail (2 bands, one moon) when it was so low in the sky, particularly with such a low temperature (even thermal gloves required this morning). It is startling too to have Jupiter and Venus in the same field of view at x150.

I didn't forget my finder!

Chris

[Stu]

25 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

I was surprised to be able to see Jupiter detail (2 bands, one moon) when it was so low in the sky, particularly with such a low temperature (even thermal gloves required this morning). It is startling too to have Jupiter and Venus in the same field of view at x150.

I didn't forget my finder!

Chris

I suspect the low temperature had an impact on my brain capacity, but I am clutching at straws there Chris!

Glad you had some better views, with your full set of kit  

[chiltonstar]

5 minutes ago, Stu said:

 

Glad you had some better views, with your full set of kit  

At my advanced age, I have to be careful with very cold nights - it would be very humiliating to be found frozen to the scope next morning by the milkman!

Chris

[Charic]

I saw Venus just about every morning last week, and was expecting and hoping the see the conjunction with the naked eye and binoculars as a matter of course this week, however the patter of rain on the windows, and the chance to start work an hour later meant it was wiser to stay in my bed a little longer. 

Its still raining now, 9 hours later.

[Hayduke27]

I made it out of bed as well.  I had to fight the clouds a bit, but in the end I got a nice view of the planets along with a beautiful sunrise.  This was the first conjunction of these two planets I have witnessed.  A great way to start the day!

[DRT]

Well done to those who braved the cold to see this. It was cloudy here so I stayed in bed rather than wandering around our village with my bins looking for an eastern horizon.

I just had a look at Stellarium and tomorrow looks good. The planets are still very close together and when they rise above the horizon the GRS is on show  

[Special K]

Good effort Stu and a shame some important bits were left behind. All in all you’ve had a successful mission....tomorrow mornings forecast doesn’t look great up my way!  Think I will miss this one.  

I did manage the conjunction with Mars several weeks back and have to say the bins gave the best views, second only to the naked eye.  

 

[Piero]

Very nice report! Despite the issues, conjunctions are lovely also naked eye!  

[Stu]

2 hours ago, Piero said:

Very nice report! Despite the issues, conjunctions are lovely also naked eye!  

Absolutely Piero! I now wish I had just taken the binoculars and a comfy chair! Next time that's what I will do.

[Pete Presland]

A fine report Stu, I was also up before the larks. It was mega cold, with the wind chill!

Well worth the effort though, especially with a couple of iridium flares and the ISS pass just above Orion. I found the constant colour changing of both planets when rising quite surprising.

[chiltonstar]

It is easy to see why the ancients were so keen on conjunctions - they really are spectacular! I attempted an image or two while looking through the scope.....

Chris

[DRT]

I got up at 6am today in the hope of seeing the conjunction but when I opened the curtains it was wall to wall cloud  

[alan potts]

Nice report Stu, I actually saw it from here but didn'tknow about it before hand. Feeding the two stray cats my son brought home at 6.10 in the morning can have a payoff after all. They seem keen on scopes, one got a kick from me for putting a paw on my 18 inch mirror.

Alan