Venus
As I noted a few days back, I've finally been observing Venus via a telescope (to the best of my knowledge this year is the first time I've ever done that). The log from the first session can be found here, the second session was a couple of days later.
Two things stand out so far. The first is that these sessions are probably the first time I've noticed filtering making a big difference to a visual image. I've found that, on the 905, a combination of the contrast booster and a 80A medium blue work really well.
The second thing I've noticed is just how tricky a target Venus is. While it's obvious that I've been observing something that has a gibbous phase I've been struck by how indistinct the view is. Of course, this won't be helped by the fact that I'm observing Venus when it's quite low to the horizon – lower than I'd generally observe other planets. It's probably also not helped by the fact that I'm not really using the best 'scope for the job.
But! Will Gater comes to the rescue. His great picture of Venus reminds me an awful lot of the view I've been having of Venus (albeit my view is obviously somewhat smaller than that). It's always nice to have something to compare to and that image really helps.
3 comments:
Hi Dave,
Glad your enjoying Venus, it is looking wonderful isn't it at the moment in the twilight sky. I was out capturing another shot last night which is a bit better quality than the one on my blog ATM. I'll post it up later today.
Best regards,
Will
Can't wait to see it.
Venus seems to be one of those planets that gets forgotten about, both from a visual and an imaging point of view (for a few obvious reasons I guess).
Will's image is very nice. I haven't got my scope out yet, as Venus is very unfavorably placed, and the weather has been lousy (even when clear, I've seen Venus twinkle, that means fierce turbulence when you see a planet twinkle). If all goes well I might have my first shot this weekend. I'll have a go at doing an animation again. I don't know why Veuns is neglected, when its phases and size change are so obvious even in small scopes.
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