Venus Beautiful NOW

[Paz]

13 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Plenty of opportunity to follow it for some time yet Paul. If you shield yourself so that the Sun is behind a building or a wall, Venus can be observed until its almost an annulus. 

 

I was thinking about this and if there is anywhere I can go with a low horizon and the right building in the right position for the shade. I would have to go away from home to see anything low to the west. If the lockdown rules allow it and I can find somewhere (and dare I say it if this crazy run of clear skies continues) I may try seeing how thin I can spot it.

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, Paz said:

I was thinking about this and if there is anywhere I can go with a low horizon and the right building in the right position for the shade. I would have to go away from home to see anything low to the west. If the lockdown rules allow it and I can find somewhere (and dare I say it if this crazy run of clear skies continues) I may try seeing how thin I can spot it.

You could observe it while its high in the sky as long as there is no chance you'll sweep across the Sun. So perhaps position a scope so you're in the shadow of your house. It's always best to leave the focuser set at infinity then you know you'll be in focus as you sweep the sky in search of Venus. It's easier if you have some idea how many degrees it is away from the Sun, and how many degrees it is above the horizon at any given time. It may be worth a go if you can't get it low down.

[DaveL59]

decided to grab a shot with the phone...

[Steve2012]

Just standing in garden looking towards IKEA chimney's Venus and moon looking magical with sky sort off turning darker but still a little light

Hanging on

Steve

[DaveL59]

it is a magical view isn't it, can see the rest of the disc illuminated faintly now its dark. Phone camera didn't capture that tho.

[RobertI]

Azure blue sky + Venus + Luna + earthshine = nature at its most beautiful (even with a lampost in the way )

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

On 24/04/2020 at 23:07, John said:

I snapped this one last night through the eyepiece of my Tak 100. Fairly basic mobile phone shot really:

Does this mean you have moved into Astro photography John?????
Marv

[Stu]

On 25/04/2020 at 00:42, Paz said:

This appearance has been the best run at Venus (and the best astronomy weather fundamentally)  I've ever experienced.

Same for me! The weather and opportunities to observe have been amazing.

[Peter_D]

Well last evening was frustrating - a classic case of having wrong tool for the job! I had wanted to observe Venus in daylight and with a marvellous blue sky slowly turning to twilight and the sun safely behind the cherry tree, I was all set. Picked up Venus in my 8x30s - then things began to turn pear shaped, pardon the pun.

Try as I might, I just could not see Venus with the naked eye (to line up with the RDF) even though it was plainly visible in the bins. I was getting more and more frustrated - even tried resting the bins on top of the C6 SE to use as finder. No luck. Top of my shopping list will be a bracket to attach a traditional finderscope to the OTA.

I was able to observe Venus later on - surprised how much thinner its crescent is. It really has been a wonderful sight for the last few months - is it common that a planet stays visible for this length of time?

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Peter_D

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Peter_D said:

Well last evening was frustrating - a classic case of having wrong tool for the job! I had wanted to observe Venus in daylight and with a marvellous blue sky slowly turning to twilight and the sun safely behind the cherry tree, I was all set. Picked up Venus in my 8x30s - then things began to turn pear shaped, pardon the pun.

Try as I might, I just could not see Venus with the naked eye (to line up with the RDF) even though it was plainly visible in the bins. I was getting more and more frustrated - even tried resting the bins on top of the C6 SE to use as finder. No luck. Top of my shopping list will be a bracket to attach a traditional finderscope to the OTA.

I was able to observe Venus later on - surprised how much thinner its crescent is. It really has been a wonderful sight for the last few months - is it common that a planet stays visible for this length of time?

 

Lovely shot despite the frustrations Peter. Venus has been very good hasn’t it? Yes quite common for them to be around for a while. Obviously Venus orbits closest to the sun so shows best/most obvious when further away from the Sun in its orbit but I think it is nicest to view when closer in and showing a fine crescent. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are viable now in the morning and will wet earlier and better through the summer, the first two at opposition in July, Mars getting larger and higher so should be excellent in October.

[Guest]

(Sorry incorrect section - novice mistake sorry)

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Guest

[maw lod qan]

It's amazing just how bright Venus gets with its cloud cover reflecting the sunlight.

I like trying to get a good image of it and hope to see it as it shrinks to a smaller crescent. 

This was a few days back.

[John]

I've managed to get some very nice views of the crescent Venus this evening with my ancient 60mm Tasco refractor. First time I've used it for 16 years. Even with the very basic .965 inch eyepieces I've had nice views up to 200x. Just a touch of false colour either side of the crescent but nothing distracting.

Not bad for a 50+ year old scope that cost me 45 quid !

 

[Telescope40]

Hello all. Just thought I’d give Venus a go in full daylight with my fairly new set up - SW150 and AZ EQ5 GT Mount. Never got Venus in full daylight before but my mount had a “daylight” mode and bingo. Gotcha ! 
Thinking it’s as good as if not better than after sunset. Lovely thin crescent now. Using my binoviewers and playing with different EP’s. Rather relaxing for sure. 
 

John 

[John]

Venus definitely looks better when observed with a fair amount of light still in the sky

Jupiter does as well !

[mikeDnight]

On 06/05/2020 at 06:59, Peter_D said:

Well last evening was frustrating - a classic case of having wrong tool for the job! I had wanted to observe Venus in daylight and with a marvellous blue sky slowly turning to twilight and the sun safely behind the cherry tree, I was all set. Picked up Venus in my 8x30s - then things began to turn pear shaped, pardon the pun.

Try as I might, I just could not see Venus with the naked eye (to line up with the RDF) even though it was plainly visible in the bins. I was getting more and more frustrated - even tried resting the bins on top of the C6 SE to use as finder. No luck. Top of my shopping list will be a bracket to attach a traditional finderscope to the OTA.

I was able to observe Venus later on - surprised how much thinner its crescent is. It really has been a wonderful sight for the last few months - is it common that a planet stays visible for this length of time?

 

Nice image Peter!

To ease the frustration of finding Venus against a bright sky, I find using a straight edge such as the edge of a card, or the edge of a roofline helps. It not only gives you a hard edge to scan along, moving it or your position to scan up and down a section of sky before moving on to the next, but it also helps with maintaining your eyes focus, and blocks some of the sky blinding effect of a bright sky. It always seems to work for me, so it's worth giving it a try. 

[John]

Got Venus just now with the 100mm Takahashi. The slim phase is clear even though the 30mm finder !

 

[Stu]

6 minutes ago, John said:

Got Venus just now with the 100mm Takahashi. The slim phase is clear even though the 30mm finder !

 

Good stuff John. In the politest possible way, is it windy with you? 😉 Quite chilly and blowy here, plus a fair amount of cloud so I am staying warm inside tonight I think. Enjoy the views, those Tak finders are lovely in their own right aren’t they?

[JeremyS]

3 hours ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello all. Just thought I’d give Venus a go in full daylight with my fairly new set up - SW150 and AZ EQ5 GT Mount. Never got Venus in full daylight before but my mount had a “daylight” mode and bingo. Gotcha ! 

Yup, GOTO is really helpful for finding objects in daylight. And indeed this is when Venus is at her best.

Edited May 11, 2020 by JeremyS

[Telescope40]

17 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Yup, GOTO is really helpful for finding objects in daylight. And indeed this is when Venus is at her best.

@JeremyS First for me this daytime observing. As per Johns comment. Twitching now at maybe catching Jupiter sooner than I thought. Bout time I wrote a review of my new mount. 
It’s rejuvenated observing sessions for sure. 
John 

[DaveL59]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Good stuff John. In the politest possible way, is it windy with you? 😉 Quite chilly and blowy here, plus a fair amount of cloud so I am staying warm inside tonight I think. Enjoy the views, those Tak finders are lovely in their own right aren’t they?

don't blame you Stu, just tried for a peek and brrrr, plus the gusts catching the long OTA sure didn't help at all here, couldn't get a steady view so like you I've retired indoors into the warm  

[John]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Good stuff John. In the politest possible way, is it windy with you? 😉 Quite chilly and blowy here, plus a fair amount of cloud so I am staying warm inside tonight I think. Enjoy the views, those Tak finders are lovely in their own right aren’t they?

It was windy but it's calmed down now. I'm using the dob now and have just found the supernova in NGC 3643, but the host galaxy is invisible. The SN is quite bright though.

I keep popping back in for a warm drink but I'm trying to do that without spoiling my dark adaption - which is tricky !

Got a quick snap of Venus through the tak earlier:

 

 

[Dippy]

6 minutes ago, John said:

It was windy but it's calmed down now. I'm using the dob now and have just found the supernova in NGC 3643, but the host galaxy is invisible. The SN is quite bright though.

I keep popping back in for a warm drink but I'm trying to do that without spoiling my dark adaption - which is tricky !

Got a quick snap of Venus through the tak earlier:

 

 

Good evening John, would you mind if I ask what eyepiece you were using? 

[John]

1 hour ago, Dippy said:

Good evening John, would you mind if I ask what eyepiece you were using? 

I was using a 7.2mm - 21.5mm zoom eyepiece. I can't recall at what setting - probably around 10-12mm. It's just a shot with the mobile phone camera held over the eyepiece with a simple clamp.

 

 

[Dippy]

13 hours ago, John said:

I was using a 7.2mm - 21.5mm zoom eyepiece. I can't recall at what setting - probably around 10-12mm. It's just a shot with the mobile phone camera held over the eyepiece with a simple clamp.

 

 

Thank you John. I was also looking at Venus with Skywatcher SWA 3.5mm at the same time. If I say the zoom eyepiece image you kindly shared is 4 out of 10, and the image quality of Skywatcher SWA 3.5mm on the same target is 7, what number from 1 to 10 will you give to the image quality of Pentax XW 3.5mm? I am asking because I am considering to buy a Pentax XW this month.