Venus 24th January

[Andrew*]

Seeing seemed to be quite good considering that it was early evening (5pm).

This must have been the third time I've ever seen the planet telescopically, but what a sight! The large crescent phase was immediately visible at low power. I cranked up the power to 200x in the 8" and noticed the terminator was not quite smooth, with some "bumps" along it. I found this odd as all the photos show a smooth terminator. Furthermore, I noticed an unevenness in the brightness across the face of the planet. I couldn't really define any pattern, but it's possible I was seeing real detail on the planet's face.

Was just a peek at the planet and I'm sure a more lengthy observation would clarify my sighting, but it was a great feeling to come in having seen more than I expected .

Andrew