Re: Venus in Daylight?


"Pete Lawrence" <pete.lawrence.nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:b6a5l1pipn44squp7s16m7jkbe8jct55u5@xxxxxxxxxx
> On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 20:18:11 +0100, "J.Poyner"
> <waxwing1uk@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >Today was extremely clear and bright in the North of Scotland, and at
about
> >3.45pm with the aid of binoculars I was intrigued by an extremely bright
> >"star" seen at about 20deg elevation in the SSE sky. ( I was looking for
> >Eagles at the time!).
> >Even in very bright sunlight it was clearly visible and remained so for
over
> >20 minutes at least.
> >I wondered at the possibility of this being venus? I have heard it can
> >sometimes be seen in daylight but am surprised at how bright this
appeared
> >in full afternoon sunlight. The location was just south of Inverness.
> >Would this be possible at it's current magnitude?
>
> At that time it would have been almost due south but it certainly
> sounds lit it was Venus you saw John. It's pretty easy to see in broad
> daylight so long as you can find it. If you are looking for it, it's
> often elusive. Then you see it and wonder how you ever missed if!
>
> It's currently about mag -4.2 which is pretty bright.
> --
> Pete
> http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

Thanks for that Pete, very interesting and does sound like it was Venus. One
other thing, what phase would it be in now, as I did look at it through a
40* fieldscope and in that it seemed more like a half moon shaped object .
It was this that puzzled me as due to the position of the sun to the right I
initially assumed it was something actually within in the atmosphere
reflecting sun glare.
Fascinating as I just didn't realise planets could be so visible in
daylight, though I guess I wouldn't have found it had I not been scanning
the sky with a decent pair of binoculars. (I did manage to find an Eagle
too!).

John


.

Relevant Pages

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