VENUS May 27

[mikeDnight]

It was blazingly hot trying to hunt this little blighter down in full Sun. The scope being equatorially mounted makes it a little safer to search, but not without risk. The sky was blinding and eventually I picked Venus up in the 30mm finder. Through the scope, although the seeing was very good, there is unavoidable heat shimmer. A blue 80A filter helped dramatically to sharpen the view by reducing shimmer and reducing the glare of the bright background sky.  At one point I felt like I was cooking in the heat, so I hooked up a black blanket that I use to attain dark adaption at night, and that made things much more comfortable.  The attached pic of Venus was through a mobile phone hand held. The phase was much much thinner in the flesh than in the image. I'm not certain about the actual percentage of the phase, but it has to be well below 2% I'd imagine, possibly nearer 1%. (May 27,  at 15.20UT)

Edited May 27, 2020 by mikeDnight

[RT65CB-SWL]

Wow! well done sir. 

I remember a few years ago I did see Jupiter during the day time hours; (though not with my 'scopes).
Viewing the planets in daylight is certainly a surreal experience. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great catch! I would actually go for a red filter, rather than the 80A, as it cuts down the blue of the sky, and the longer wavelengths are less susceptible to seeing effects.

[John]

Great catch Mike

According to the Virtual Planet Atlas software the phase is currently 1.8%.

With the phase so thin I think it is difficult to catch it accurately when imaged - my shots from last night (2.3% illuminated) were pretty much the same as it looked at 4% or even 6%. I guess there is only so much that mobile phone sensors and firmware can handle !

Your drawings are much more how it actually looks though the eyepiece - very delicate

[John]

I managed to get Venus myself at around 9:40pm. As soon as the Falcon launch was scrubbed I popped my Tak out and found Venus lurking between the soffit of my house and the hedge top !

Nice to observe it for a while - I think this is the slimmest that I've ever managed to see the phase

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

I have just come in after observing Venus with the bins. Caught it by spiral movement at least 30 minutes before naked eye. Fantastic crescent.

My question, is it in a waining phase? Appears opposite to the moon, as in the moon is more illuminated but Venus seems less? My second question is, is there an app or site that I can access that shows the phases of Venus, like the app on my phone for the the moons of Jupiter.