Viewing Venus for the first time

[MrGlen]

Hi,

im pretty new to this but have had some brilliant results from viewing the moon with my Skywatcher 200P Dobs.

When i turn to venus what should i see?

It seems pretty small but has a crescent but cant see any sharp detail and it does appear pretty small in the eyepiece.

Is this normal? I am using a 10mm lens along with a 2x Barlow.

If anyone could offer me some advice that would be great.

Thanks

MrGlen

[kniclander]

MrGlen, a small crescent with no detail sounds about right for venus....

but wait for saturn and jupiter...

Dan

[Doc]

What you are seeing is one of Venus phases. Just like the moon has many phases so does Venus.

[MrGlen]

Thanks guys,

when does Saturn and Jupiter come into view?

[Vega]

Yep Venus' atmosphere is one of the most reflective in the solar system (hence its brilliant brightness). Also the planet is completely surrounded by dense cloud. This means we cannot see much detail at all no-matter what the aperture/magnification. and I agree.... just wait till you see the big boys.. Jupiter and Saturn .

Saturn rises in the East from around 9:30ish. Best to wait till at least 10:30 so its a bit higher in the sky. Rising earlier as the months go on. Jupiter is too close to the sun at the moment to view.

I recommend downloading stellarium its free and works a treat helpin to find things in the sky

Matt

[Lady Isabella]

You could try using an aperture mask (70 -80mm), as Venus is showing some cloud features at the moment. I made a sketch about 8 hours before this chap in America:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/attachments/2881841-01.22.09%20CED%202%20Venus%20by%20So%20copy.JPG

While Sol Robbins has captured more detail in his sketch, I did managed

to pick out the major cloud features that he shows, also the shape of the terminator.

p.s. I also used a yellow filter.

[Barry W]

Glen (fellow Newbie!),Jupiter is already set by the time you can see Venus (by my solar system calander).Saturn should rise in the east some time around 10pm. I got a good view at around 1130 several nights ago with it about 20 degrees in elevation. Look for it in (just under LEO's constellation). From home I was unable to spot Regulus which I'd hoped to guide me, but Saturn was nice and bright to the naked eye. You should be able to quickly centre on it with the 25 mm and switch to the 10mm to watch it float across your field of view. The rings are end on right now (our luck for starting this interest in the wrong year, but we'll enjoy watching them open up to a broader view over the next few years), but it's still a very nice site. It should be high in the south in the early mornings.I read the posts concerning your telescope purchase earlier today BTW. Sounds much like me over the last few weeks. I hope you enjoy your new telescope as much as me.Here's a link to another free program - ASTROPLANNER. the free version is great to build a basic viewing plan. You can enter your geographic position, scope and eyepiece info and start planning from there. I haven't figured out 90 percent of it's other capabilities, including powered telescope control (not needed though), but the basics are intuitive.

http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/

Cheers,Barry

[MrGlen]

Thank you very much Barry.

Most kind of you to take time to reply.

Its just been to cloudy last couple of nights to get a look at Saturn, but cant wait to see it.

Cheers

Glen

[The Warthog]

You can see some cloud detail, and not much else except the phase on Venus, and that's about all. Try putting on the aperture mask, or a neutral density filter, or any dark filter, to cut the light if it's too much. Orion, the Pleiades, and the clusters around Sirius are much more fun this time of year.

[Barry W]

You're very welcome Glen,

I forgot to mention that the astro planner (and most other programs, I expect) will take the exact location you input to calculate your current sky. if you don't have a GPS (I don't) you can get a very exact position from Google Earth. I've managed to pre-set very precise coordinates of my back patio (which is where I've done all of my viewing to date), as well as some other recommended viewing sites around my area that I hope to visit. Easy menu selections will allow you to see exactly when and where objects will be in the sky for both current and future dates/times.

[MrEd]

Hi Glen

Detail can be seen on Venus but you require 3 things

1 Seeing, 2 Filters and 3 Patience.

I say patience because most cloud detail are some very

subtle shades of grey and require allot of patience to see them

briefly reveal themselves. (this helps as well for all the other planets)

The Best filters to use are yellow,Green and Violet.

Also some keen eyed Observers like Lady Isabella's advice is invaluable.

Her reports on the Venusian upper atmosphere have been captured and

verified in some of my Planetary images.

I hope this advice helps in some way so you can get the best

out of one of the most rewarding parts of amateur astronomy.

Ed Sampson