Good day to you all.
I am slightly sorry to say I will not be doing anymore observing of Venus until the next time she appears in our evening skies.
But I do have lots of fond memories of observing her with my William Optics 158 mm F/7 apochromatic refractor since Tuesday 25th February 2020 at many sorts of magnifications. The highest I used was 320X. I had experienced some glorious conjunctions with many celestial objects from Pisces to Taurus.
25th February: The true double Zeta Piscium and a 65% lit -4.3 magnitude Venus in the same fov at 11X and 40X. So beautiful!
10th March: Good orange K5 star 19 Arietis and Venus at 11X, 40X and 112X in the same field of view. Venus was -4.4. Stunning!
3rd April: Who can forget Venus in the southern part of the Pleiades (M45)?
Venus was -4.5. By far the very best conjunction
13th April: Venus had a double conjunction with 2 double stars Chi & Phi Tauri. At 40X I could see one double star at a time with Venus. She had now reached maximum brilliancy at -4.7.
9th May: Venus and Elnath (Beta Tauri) in the same fov at 40X. Venus had then become a crescent. Venus was still -4.7.
22nd May: Mercury -0.6 and Venus -4.3 side by side were 1.5 degrees apart; and therefore they both fitted in the same fov at 40X. Utterly captivating!
29th May: My final observation of Venus standing alone in the north western sky completely surrounded by distant trees. Her magnitude has reached -4.1. I could just observe her for less then 5 minutes at 40X. Her phase was 0.94%. Her angular diameter was 57.1". Her distance 43,732,000 from Earth. All information comes from my Guide 9.1 DVD. What a fitting way to end seeing Venus as a the most slenderest crescent.
So much joyous memories I have experienced over the last 5 months.
It has been a wonderful pleasure to observe our closest planet.
Fare thee well, Venus, until the next time!!
Clear skies to all from Aubrey.
Last edit: 3 years 10 months ago by flt158.
The following user(s) said Thank You: michael_murphy, lunartic_old, Paul Evans, Fermidox, scfahy, Until_then-Goodnight!
Thank you, all, very much for your comments and thank you's.
I am reminding myself that I have succeeded in observing 2 Venus - Pleiades conjunctions. The first one was 8 years ago. Some of us went to the Sugarloaf car park to see it. But it was 100% overcast while we were up there. Then when I drove home the clouds parted and I saw them both from my back garden. Great memory!
Aubrey.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Fermidox, Until_then-Goodnight!
3 years 10 months ago#108980by Until_then-Goodnight!
Replied by Until_then-Goodnight! on topic Venus Farewell
I really enjoyed reading your highlights of Venus Aubrey. You have made the most of the planet throughout 2020, and your reports have been wonderful to read. So, very many thanks for sharing them with us.
Venus really has been fabulous these last few months hasn't she? All good things must come to an end of course, but she'll be back in the mornings before long.
I said my own wee goodbye on Wednesday 27th as she set behind the Antrim Hills.
Enjoy!
Paul.
The following user(s) said Thank You: flt158, Until_then-Goodnight!
