Venus

[Enzo]

So what happened to Venus? Used to be in the sky all the time. I could follow it down into the morning sunrise to see it pop up in the evening sunset a little while later. I find it a comforting beacon in the sky. When it is high and bright I like to pick it out before the sun sets, or follow it after sunrise. To me that is fascinating naked eye astronomy, to be able to shield my eyes from the setting sun still above the horizon, and look up and spot Venus in the blue day sky.

But I don't see her anymore. Is it global warming? Black helicopter space probes? ET took it and left? Seems like the last year or two I don't see it much.

Jupiter is up there every night.

[Arneb]

Well, maybe you just haven't got it anymore, and madame Venus is making herself unavailable to you. :wink:

Seriously - Venus is in the evening sky right now but difficult to observe because a) close to the Sun b) in a southerly position (constellation of libra), so when the Sun sets Venus is already low over the horizon.

The movement to the South is going to continue (Scorpius, Sagittarius, sayibng hello to Jupiter), but as the Sun sets earlier and earlier, you might get lucky. Things will definitely improve in Jan and Feb, when Venus climbs the ecliptic northward again (Capricornus, Aquarius), but by mid-March, the Sun will have swallowed Venus (lower conjunction), and you will have to say good-bye again.

You might make a date for mid-April for a chat during the wee morning hours. The summer and fall of 2009 should be glorious Venus-wise for someone who gets up early.

For all-sky charts, go to www.heavens-above.com and select Lansing as your location (you don't have to register to do that). Click "all-sky charts"From there, you can tinker with the times and put on the screen what you can expect at a given date.

[KLA2]

Well said, Arneb, although you did sound a bit like a writer of the Old Farmers Almanac in places. :wink:

Or, Enzo, Venus is way closer to the Sun than Earth and orbits around it in an appearent tight little circle. So, sometimes it is above, sometimes below, sometimes beside, from our vantage. I more than 'spect you know all this, and were just being poetic. :P

[Enzo]

Well I realize the orbital relationships are cyclical, it just seems that lately the planet has not been as obvious in the sky as in previous seasons.

[Enzo]

I did find it though, down low betwen the large tree across the street and the electrical contractor's storefront on the corner, I can see it. She's hiding down there, not standing high and proud in the sky. Maybe after the election...

[troubleagain]

So that's Venus down low? What's that shiny thing that was huggin' the moon last night, then?

[Arneb]

That was the MAN, Jupiter ("Upipa", in my son's parlance)

[troubleagain]

Ahhhh. Yes, and Enzo answered that for me in another thread. SO pretty when they're together like that.

[KLA2]

Try looking through a decent pair of binoculars. You should be able to make out 2-3 of the moons. Try to let your eyes adapt to the dark first. (try to get away from all white lights.)

Then, you will be wanting a telescope. :wink:

[Мастер]

Try looking through a decent pair of binoculars. You should be able to make out 2-3 of the moons. Try to let your eyes adapt to the dark first. (try to get away from all white lights.)

And make sure you keep your hands steady - it won't go real well if you've got the shakes...

[KLA2]

^ My point. After struggling to control her hands while observing those jiggling moons, she will start to desire a longer, more powerful ‘scope mounted on a rock-steady, reliable stand. Perhaps even a motor drive that provides constant, reliable movement all night long.

What? We’re talking astronomy here.

[Мастер]

^ My point. After struggling to control her hands while observing those jiggling moons, she will start to desire a longer, more powerful ‘scope mounted on a rock-steady, reliable stand. Perhaps even a motor drive that provides constant, reliable movement all night long.

Ah, I see :P

What? We’re talking astronomy here.

I'll talk astronomy, on a topic related to this one, but I'll start a new thread.

[troubleagain]

Try looking through a decent pair of binoculars. You should be able to make out 2-3 of the moons. Try to let your eyes adapt to the dark first. (try to get away from all white lights.)

And make sure you keep your hands steady - it won't go real well if you've got the shakes...

I've always got the shakes. Makes small fine-motor tasks like needlework or beading rather difficult. My doctors (GP and OBGYN) used to take turns testing me for hyperthyroidism.

[Enzo]

Well, once knowing where Venus was hidden, I see jupiter is diving over to meet her pretty quickly - two very bright friends in the sky near each other in the evening.

[troubleagain]

Yeah, the conjunction is supposed to be this weekend, I think.

[Enzo]

Yep, closing fast. Was warching earlier through gaps in the ever present cloud cover.

[Enzo]

Oh my, I didn;t realize. We get a nice conjuction, but in Europe Venus will be occulted by the moon.

[Enzo]

Oh foo. There is a slightly brighter spot where the sun is in an otherwise cloudy sky.

[Arneb]

Same here.

[Enzo]

It mocks me, after I wrote that, it started snowing and won't stop. We already got 8 inches of dense wet snow the night before. If it had been a few degrees colder it would have been two feet deep. and now it spits in my face.

[troubleagain]

I could see the moon and "stars" intermittently last night while walking the dog. I meant to go back out later, but forgot.

[Enzo]

The moon has moved along, but the planets are still huddled.

[troubleagain]

They're probably trying to stay warm.

[Enzo]

I fear they are drifting apart. Sad, they were so close.