Venus

[markse68]

Venus right now is the clearest I’ve seen- sharp as a tack 

[Stu]

31 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Venus right now is the clearest I’ve seen- sharp as a tack 

Looking pretty good here too Mark, a bit wobbly but still better than last few days.

[markse68]

Crisp even with my 3.5 giving 460x here Stu! Can’t make out any surface detail but the terminator is beautifully sharp and v.little ca. A perfect micro moon! This is so much more fun than the past few nights I’ve been out.... Starting to realise the benefits of a refractor though as the diffraction spikes are rather annoying! Going for Sirius now- wish me luck 😂

Edited March 25, 2020 by markse68

[RobH2020]

On 27/02/2020 at 13:37, Stu said:

So, you see it as a disk, not an airy disk with diffraction rings like a star, that's good. Could you see that it was oval rather than round? It is around half phase currently so looks like a mini half moon. This is a bad smartphone shot through my 4" which shows the phase.

Stu can i ask what phone you took that on?

I've a Samsung galaxy s7, which is looking quite old now in terms of camera quality... and i can't take a quality photo of Venus through the scope at all!

Totally washed out with the full 150mm scope aperture, and can't even see it in the camera with the lid on and the little viewing hole opened (dunno what you call that).

Edited March 26, 2020 by RobH2020

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Just managed my best shot of Venus with the humble phone. Actually managed to focus and capture the phase for once. No glare. I got out nice and early so the sky was still bright. Not bad viewing at X300 mag.

 

Baz

Edited April 7, 2020 by Barry-W-Fenner

[Stu]

Looks good Baz. Cloudy here

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Just now, Stu said:

Looks good Baz. Cloudy here

 

Thanks matey. Same here now unfortunately. Scope is all set up for some viewing and the cloud has rolled in. I was looking forward to getting out for a bit tonight as I missed the festivities last night...

Fingers crossed it clears for us all, there is still time 👍

[Stu]

Cloud coming up from the South west, and rain potentially at some point but I think that’s tomorrow for me.

[Telescope40]

Hello.  Been giving Venus a go myself with a darkening sky.  Seems it help the view. Using my Stellarvue 102 frac and 4mm Nirvana EP. - 177 X 

Getting hints of cloud markings a la @mikeDnight recent posts and superb drawings.  Bout the best views I've had. Great seeing again ATM  Complete lack of any wobble in the atmosphere. 

John 

[Stu]

59 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello.  Been giving Venus a go myself with a darkening sky.  Seems it help the view. Using my Stellarvue 102 frac and 4mm Nirvana EP. - 177 X 

Getting hints of cloud markings a la @mikeDnight recent posts and superb drawings.  Bout the best views I've had. Great seeing again ATM  Complete lack of any wobble in the atmosphere. 

John 

Sounds good John! Other than around the phase line (do we call that a terminator on Venus, I suspect not!) I’ve never seen a hint of detail on Venus, good to hear you’re are managing to see some.

Very good seeing here too, getting lovely views myself, these are a couple of quick snaps with my phone, one just with the x2 camera and the other through the Tak.

 

[JamesF]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

do we call that a terminator on Venus, I suspect not!

I'd happily call it a terminator.

James

[mikeDnight]

Yes, it is called the terminator on Venus as well as the Moon, or any other planet that shows a phase. 

Well done John for detecting hints of cloud detail! 

Edited April 7, 2020 by mikeDnight

[Telescope40]

18 minutes ago, Stu said:

Sounds good John! Other than around the phase line (do we call that a terminator on Venus, I suspect not!) I’ve never seen a hint of detail on Venus, good to hear you’re are managing to see some.

Very good seeing here too, getting lovely views myself, these are a couple of quick snaps with my phone, one just with the x2 camera and the other through the Tak.

Hello Stu.  I’m really impressed with my Stellarvue frac but I think tonight’s session in twilight conditions were the difference in the views I had, rather than in full darkness which is the norm. 
Got very little flaring from the planet. Helped no end with seeing the crescent clearly. 
As said. Definitely the best views I’ve had of our “twin” planet 

John 

[Stu]

1 minute ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello Stu.  I’m really impressed with my Stellarvue frac but I think tonight’s session in twilight conditions were the difference in the views I had, rather than in full darkness which is the norm. 
Got very little flaring from the planet. Helped no end with seeing the crescent clearly. 
As said. Definitely the best views I’ve had of our “twin” planet 

John 

Excellent, Stellavue’s have a very good reputation.

I’m sure the seeing conditions will be playing a major part in letting the scope show what it can do 👍👍

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Seeing was fantastic around 7pm at dusk. Venus was the best I have seen it. The phase looked wonderful. I can't say as I have had any luck seeing cloud though. I backed off on the power from 300 down to 150 and although the viewing was extremely clear, any signs of detail evade me.

After this I had a general look around the sky but the cloud slowly rolled in and seeing deteriorated. I viewed a few of the big stars, arcturus and big b but both were very poor.  so I have now packed up.

baz