Couldn't agree more Chuck, It was beautiful! I wasn't aware of this pairing until I stepped out of work tonight (Fridays are early nights - whoo hoo!) Had a few co-workers let out "Wow"s which is always fun to hear, and then they turned to me to explain what it is they're impressed by. (I've sorta got a rep at work for these types of things) Anyways I rushed home and set up the 'ol trusty digicam on a tripod and fired off a few quick shots before dinner I've included 2 in my gallery here: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=167 Nothing special or jaw dropping at all, the naked eye view was much more impressive. But the kids looked at it with me and that was worth a few minutes in the cold. Chuck I've always wanted to try and see Venus's crescent naked eye but thought I'd have to try and see it in daylight/dusk settings never thought to use a moon filter thanks for that tip I'll try it out!! Howard --- On Sat, 2/28/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Moon/Venus To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 12:12 AM That was a very close pairing tonight; very beautiful and soul-stirring. I watched Venus set behind a distant roof-line. It was interesting in that it didn't wink-out immediately, like a star does during a lunar occultation. It took a couple of seconds to dim and finally disappear; proof that it subtends a measurable angle and not a point source. As Venus approaches superior conjunction, it will swell to a minute of arc in apparent diameter- this is large enough for sharp-eyed individuals to detect the crescent shape. Use a neutral-density (or "moon") filter to dim the dazzling brilliance, and try to see the disk of another planet without a telescope. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com