2018 Venus season begins

[Size9Hex]

Venus emerged from behind the sun in early January into the evening sky. One of my observing highlights of last winter was observing Venus as the planet raced to overtake us on the inside, growing in size, but the crescent becoming ever thinner.

Caught it for the first time this year tonight, very low in the west just after sunset. Clear horizon essential! A beautiful winter sunset with deep intensity to the colours. Venus a pale naked eye dot, shy rather than obvious. Binoculars would be ideal. At 90x in the new grab and go, Venus was small disk, still 250 million km distant on the far side of the sun. A rainbow riot, refracting through the atmosphere.

Looks like the nature of the apparition will be quite different this season to the last, but still looking forwards to seeing what it brings. Would love to see some cloud details. Anyone else looking forwards to Venus and any tips on kit/technique?

Mercury is nearby but wasn’t seen. Looks a better bet in mid March.

[MarsG76]

It'll be nice to once again see the soft fluffy white light of Venus.... 

[S.A.M]

I had a try and locating Venus last night but a thin band of cloud over the western horizon (rest of sky was fairly clear!) killed that idea!  Managed to get a few shots of the moon before camera battery packed up, my hands were not happy with the cold while standing outside trying to find Venus, took at least 20 minutes to get rid of the cold when I got back into the house.  Will have another try on Thursday if the skies are clear?

Peter

[Stu]

I've not been a big Venus fan in the past, but did enjoy some lovely views last time around. Why do you say it will seem different this apparition?

Managed an iPhone shot last time with a very nice crescent.

[Fredster1970]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

I've not been a big Venus fan in the past, but did enjoy some lovely views last time around. Why do you say it will seem different this apparition?

Managed an iPhone shot last time with a very nice crescent.

I too normally skip past Venus telescopically. Enjoy its magnificence to the naked eye, especially as part of a wonderful twilight sky. But strangely keen this year to enjoy all aspects of planetary observations. So also looking forward to Venus.

[Size9Hex]

4 hours ago, Stu said:

Why do you say it will seem different this apparition?

Was looking at SkySafari and it seems like compared to last apparition Venus will be higher in the sky early on and lower in the sky later on. So maybe better views than last time while the disk is fairly will illuminated early in the apparition, but worse views than last time when it’s just a thin crescent late in the apparition? Not sure how well I’ve described that. Hopefully these screens make more sense (or not)!

Early last time, 75% disk, low in sky...

Late last time, 5% disk, high in sky...

This time, 75%, high...

This time, 5% disk, already below the sun!

[russ]

I haven’t seen Venus in years, be good to see it again. Only snag is the weather. Looks like cloud and rain are with us for some time.

[Size9Hex]

@russ Fingers crossed for good weather again soon. Hope you get a chance to see Venus again this time around.