Friday, December 02, 2005
More Binocular Venus
Inspired by Peter's recent comment I went out an had a look at daytime Venus (if you folks are going to try this, make sure you know where Venus is and that the Sun is blocked by a large object such as a wall or building so you don't accidently view the Sun through binoculars and severely damage your eyes).
Venus was quite easy to see in binoculars. I braced my arms against the back of a chair so there was not too much wobble. In my badly-in-need-of-a-professional-clean-and-tune up 10x50's Venus was a tiny crescent. In my Dick Smith 10x25's I convinced myself that it was crescent shaped.
The clouds cam over shortly after sunset, so I couldn't determine exactly when the glare got too much. But it looks like if you want to see crescent Venus in binoculars, daytime is the go. As Venus will increase form 35 to 50 arc seconds during December, the chances of binocular Venus is quite good.
Venus was quite easy to see in binoculars. I braced my arms against the back of a chair so there was not too much wobble. In my badly-in-need-of-a-professional-clean-and-tune up 10x50's Venus was a tiny crescent. In my Dick Smith 10x25's I convinced myself that it was crescent shaped.
The clouds cam over shortly after sunset, so I couldn't determine exactly when the glare got too much. But it looks like if you want to see crescent Venus in binoculars, daytime is the go. As Venus will increase form 35 to 50 arc seconds during December, the chances of binocular Venus is quite good.
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:32 pm 
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
