So what can you see during the day and how do you find it?

[JOC]

So we know that with the right equipment the sun can be seen during the day.  The moon is also an easy win on some days.  There is a thread currently running about seeing venus during the day.  I just wondered how much can be seen during the day time and how is it found?  Do you rely on a tracking scope left on from being set-up overnight?

[DaveL59]

fluffy clouds making cute patterns, insects buzzing about on their way around the gardens, the odd birdie getting up to naughties...

I'd imagine setting circles or a tracking mount could at least get you to a point in the sky, but I expect the big issue would be on a bright day, no dark adaption so other than really bright objects would we really be able to pick out much in the way of detail let alone the fainter objects?

[Astroscot2]

Ive found Venus easy to find with binos during the day with care,  Ive not tried but apparently you can see Mars. Jupiter and Saturn with ease in a small telescope during the day and probably the brighter stars.  I may gives this a go.

Mark

[lenscap]

39 minutes ago, JOC said:

Do you rely on a tracking scope left on from being set-up overnight?

Most Goto mounts, including Synscan, have a "Park" facility which causes the mount to remember it's star alignment when the power is switched off (provided the setup is not moved of course).

 

 

 

[Waddensky]

I've seen Venus with the naked eye hours before sunset, but it's very easy to loose the sight of the planet because there are no reference points. Sometimes, it takes minutes before I can find Venus again - and once found is not difficult to see at all. A remarkable experience.

The Moon is usually a good guide to find celestial objects during the day, for example Venus (June 19th, occultation) or Mars (September 6th, conjunction). The brighter stars can also be found in this way.

[Stu]

Venus is easy enough with the naked eye after a certain time of day, still daylight but the sun low enough to allow it to be seen. The challenge is getting your eye to focus at infinity to pick it up. It can be tracked through mount the day in a scope.

I have followed Jupiter until late morning before with a Goto scope that maintained it in the field of view after a night of observing. Fun to do, but contrast gets much lower obviously.

[ollypenrice]

The good news: I once watched a shadow transit of Callisto over Jupiter in excellent detail, both the transiting moon and its shadow showing clearly against the cloud-belted disk, in the middle of a clear blue-sky spring afternoon.

The bad news: the telescope in question cost about six million euros.

It's a 0.8 metre Ritchey Chrétien with mirrors by Dany Cardoen. The planetary eyepiece is - ahem - a 31MM Nagler. This leads me to suspect that aperture might be important for daytime observing...

http://www.obs-bp.com/   

I'm lucky with my neighbours!

😁lly

 

[DaveL59]

isn't that cheating a bit Olly, going that far up the scope range?  

[ollypenrice]

55 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

isn't that cheating a bit Olly, going that far up the scope range?  

Nah, it's just what happens to be kicking about around here!

😁lly

[Alien 13]

Anyone that has taken flats the old fashioned way during daylight will know that you can capture hundreds of stars if you forget the "T Shirt" 

Alan

[Alien 13]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

It's a 0.8 metre Ritchey Chrétien with mirrors by Dany Cardoen. The planetary eyepiece is - ahem - a 31MM Nagler. This leads me to suspect that aperture might be important for daytime observing...

http://www.obs-bp.com/   

I'm lucky with my neighbours!

😁lly

 

Difficult one, wonder if exit pupil size matters too.

Alan

[Macavity]

Daylight Visiblity can doubtless  be predicted in terms of Sky Brightness / arc sec etc.
https://asterism.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/tut35-Magnitudes.pdf  etc.
But you still have to FIND (not lose) the object (as is noted above).  🙂

[ollypenrice]

27 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Difficult one, wonder if exit pupil size matters too.

Alan

I'm sure it does but 'daylight' is noise and Jupiter is signal. More aperture builds signal faster than noise. It really was very strange seeing at least nine cloud belts on Jupiter, in reddish brown colour, plus the transit, against a blue sky! The Jovian detail was comparable with that seen in our 14 inch SCT at night.

Olly