Observing Venus

[LondonNeil]

I read on another thread that Venus can be observed day time.  D'oh! I thought,  they makes sense,  close to us,  decent size,  close to the sun,  yes it should be bright.

OK, how do you do it and do it safely?

It's always near ish the sun isn't it? So what precautions? Hold some paper above the ep and if it doesn't burst into flames you can take a peak?

And how to find it in the fov?  If I level the scope pointing north ('Home' on the az-gtix) it'll probably get it in a 25mm ep fine,  but how would I find it without a goto?  It's not like you can star hop.

Also what about Mercury? I guess that is day time visible too? But even closer to the sun.  Anything else?

[bosun21]

I used to align my mount and then park it for the night. The next day I simply started from the home position and it always went straight to Venus with the go to.

[CraigT82]

Venus is ok, generally easy to spot in a finder when you’re in the right ballpark. I used my phone as a compass and inclinometer to get me close to the alt az coordinates that SkySafari was telling me it was at, then spot it in the finder then get main scope on it. Good long dew shield to keep as much indirect sunlight out of the tube as poss. 

Mercury is much  harder to find but still doable with the above technique. However you will need some kind of shield to block out the sun for safety. I’ve used a strategically placed garden parasol.
 

Edited August 20 by CraigT82

[Nik271]

You can find Venus with the help of a planetarium program like Stellarium which will give it's position in altitude and azimuth. The key to safe observing is to observe from a shady location which still shows the sky near Venus. This way you can scan the sky safely knowing that the Sun will not be in the way. A 9x50 finder with a 6 degree field of view is ideal.

[CraigT82]

1 minute ago, Nik271 said:

You can find Venus with the help of a planetarium program like Stellarium which will give it's position in altitude and azimuth. The key to safe observing is to observe from a shady location which still shows the sky near Venus. This way you can scan the sky safely knowing that the Sun will not be in the way. A 9x50 finder with a 6 degree field of view is ideal.

Good point there about setting up in a shady spot, you really don’t want to be aimlessly panning around whilst looking through finder or scope when the sun is up.

[PeterStudz]

I’ve done this countless times using my 200p Dob. I use a PushTo feature in an iPhone app called PS Align Pro. Phone strapped to the OTA. I find the sun using a white light filter. Sync the app to the Sun. Turn on EQ platform. PushTo Venus. Lock Dob in altitude so it cannot accidentally be nudge. Remove finder cover.  Venus has always been in the finder. But if it isn’t do NOT scan around. Centre Venus in finder. Remove white light filter. Observe Venus in eyepiece. 

Edited August 20 by PeterStudz

[LondonNeil]

Thanks.  So a baader solar film filter (or projecting image on to card) to align scope on Sun if compass and level not attitude sufficient. 

Decent due shield,  and I guess as small a fov as possible to keep away from the sun. 

Shade seems sensible but aren't you going to be moving the scope every few minutes to keep Venus in view?

[LondonNeil]

Just thought,  synscan spo doesn't allow looking at the sun unless you flip a tab to allow it.   Is Venus far enough away usually to view without flipping that tab?  It would be an extra safety feature to leave that lock active. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have observed Venus in daylight scores, maybe hundreds of times, with an alt-az GoTo mount.  First level the mount carefully, align the telescope on the Sun, with a full aperture solar filter in place.  To align on the Sun, I use the shadow of the 6x30 finderscope on my hand, then the Sun's image on my hand. (Done it scores of times, not burnt a hole in my hand yet. 🙂)  Check full aperture film is in place and fine align Sun's disk in eyepiece.

With Go to alignment complete, select Venus with the GoTo, then remove the solar filter and look through the eyepiece. Venus should be in the field, very easy to see.  Venus is usually some angular distance from the Sun, so there is no danger of getting an eyeful of sun if you take reasonable care and always check where the scope is actually pointing before putting your eye to the eyepiece.

One year I managed to observe Venus when it was at inferior conjunction, but a few degrees above the Sun. I was very careful...

The same technique can be used to find Mercury, Jupiter and a few stars. Mercury is often hard to spot.  Or you can align on the Moon if it is suitably placed (potentially safer).

[Kon]

When I started with imaging Venus at daylight, using a manual dob, I worked out at night Venus' relative position using some stars. That way I knew roughly where it should be at daylight. Using a finderscope, it's very bright, you can't miss it. As others have said be careful. If I were you, I would start at dusk or dawn, depending on the apparition, just to get a feeling about its position and then move to daylight. Daylight mostly benefits imaging as the seeing is a lot more stable to get the UV. I have never seen details visually but very experienced observers at sgl have seen some clouds on its surface, I think using a yellow filter.

Mercury is a lot tougher to find due to its brightness but similar to above.

Edited August 20 by Kon

[PeterStudz]

Visually I almost always found Venus better during daylight. It’s higher in the sky and will usually show less of that atmospheric boiling. During night I occasionally found it so bad that it was difficult to even make out the approximate phase. No such problems during daylight. In fact it could still be so bright that even during daylight a variable polarising filter would help to cut down some of the glare - just by a fraction. I once thought that I could make out some subtle cloud details (no filters), but I’m far from convinced! That was also during daylight. 

[Sunshine]

Venus has always been a bit meh for me, a bright crescent is about all I could ever see. Though I haven’t given it a go with the 128, maybe it will reveal something more interesting, given good seeing.

Edited August 23 by Sunshine

[Pete Presland]

I always use the shade of my shed when viewing/imaging Venus. It is easy to find in the day, once you have done a it a few times. I have a pair of low power binoculars (9x) same as my view finder, which are left at the focus point for stars....etc. After working out where you think Venus should be and ensuing there is no chance of accidently looking at the Sun, i simply scan the area with the bino's. Once located i can usually find it fairly quickly with the finder, then my 42mm wide field eyepiece.

Venus is currently well away from the Sun and transits around 2:30 pm for me, so knowing this and the altitude gives me a good start. Altitude and separation from the Sun are all i usually need.  Visually as others have said, it can look a little plain. Even imaging requires a UV filter to really show some detail, there are some excellent images on here from members in the last couple of years.

A really this crescent is what i would like to capture, i have managed around 3% in the past. This requires great care though due to the proximity to the Sun!

[Stu]

On 20/08/2024 at 21:26, LondonNeil said:

Just thought,  synscan spo doesn't allow looking at the sun unless you flip a tab to allow it.   Is Venus far enough away usually to view without flipping that tab?  It would be an extra safety feature to leave that lock active. 

A few observations from me….

I guess you can’t really say ‘usually’ when it comes to Venus (or Mercury) because their position is constantly changing in relation to the Sun. Venus at Maximum Elongation is actually quite a long way from the Sun; 47 degrees in January so can be observed quite easily (with normal basic precautions) without risk of accidentally viewing the Sun. At that time it is also relatively high due to the angle of the ecliptic (29 degrees altitude at sunset) so is quite easy once you get on it. I can often pick it out in binos and then once you get your eyes focused at the right point it then becomes quite easy with the naked eye even when the skies still seem bright. It gets trickier when the ecliptic is lower in the sky as Venus is then much lower as the Sun sets. It is a bit less interesting at these times as it is smaller and the phase less dramatic.

Things start to get more tricky as Venus approaches the Sun, then you have to be much more careful, ensuring that the Sun is out of sight behind a building say to avoid any risk. The views can be very interesting though, as those are the times when Venus is at its largest and shows a fine crescent, just like a mini Moon.

I’ve had some good success using a Herschel Wedge with the filters removed to observe Venus as it cuts the brightness right down. Worth trying if you have one already. Same precautions apply in terms of avoiding accidental viewing of the Sun though.

 

 

[VNA]

Hello, very interesting and true story:

 

"According to Chuck Bueter, writing in Nightwise.org on 2017 January 6, although clouds and rain dominated the Saturday morning of 1865 March 4, as the Inauguration ceremonies of Abraham Lincoln proceeded, the clouds parted and the planet Venus dominated a crystal-clear blue sky!

Two members of President Lincoln's body-guard detail, during the Inauguration proceedings, corroborated the sudden appearance, and notice by Inauguration attendees, of Venus in the post-Inaugural sky:"

 

http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2021/01/venus-surprises-in-day-time-sky-shortly.html