Venus 25 March

[mikeDnight]

After a beautiful day and virtually no contrails due to the grounding of the planes, the sky was simply perfect as the Sun dropped below my western tree line. I'd already set the 4" refractor up in the observatory in anticipation of a night of observing, which began early, even before sunset, with Venus.

The first daylight observation below was made without using any filter, but the observations that follow on represent the visual impression given by the various coloured filters listed.

[Littleguy80]

I saw one plane in the sky yesterday and that surprised me. Really great set of sketches, Mike. As you you know, I’ve been wondering about filters on Venus so this is extremely helpful. Thank you!

[laudropb]

Very nice work Mike. Unfortunately  I have been clouded out the last few nights. I was finding the #47 and #80A were giving the most detail. I have yet to try a red filter but you sketch looks promising.

Edited March 26, 2020 by laudropb

[mikeDnight]

I have mixed feelings about coloured filters, and initially I thought the red filter was a bit disappointing, but the result isn't too bad. It may have been that the red was quite intense and seriously dimmed the image, but in a scope larger than a 100mm it might be well worth checking out. ☺

[mark81]

Nice one Mike.. very interesting to see what subtle differences these filters make - and not an easy job to sketch either, I bet...

Mark

Edited March 26, 2020 by mark81