Venus Eclipsed?

[thepidler]

Ok - it said I can ask my amerature questions here. So here goes. I am brand new to viewing and picked up a used Tasco Luminova with 3 eyepiecs, a filter and a 3xBarlow on the cheap. <br /><br />Thanks to reading posts here, I have been able to clean the optics, align, (culminate?), the mirrors and so on.<br /><br />I have seen some amazing views of the moon and have been successful at even viewing mars, (I do however live in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex...)<br /><br />Last night, we viewed the moon, then off to mars. At about 7PM, I turned my scope to the Southwest and viewed what I believe to be Venus?? And through the scope, venus was a cresent. It looked like something was between us and it. <br /><br />Now, that said, is that so? Or is someting goofy with this scope? I have not seen anything like it before. But, I didn't think of turning the scope back to the moon or mars to see if the 'eclispse' was still there.<br /><br />Thanks for the info guys!

 

[harmonicaman]

Welcome Abored...! <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /><br /><br />Yeah, great observation! One of the other members recently mentioned that Venus was going to eclipse a group of stars. You were probably fortunate enough to view a part of this event!<br /><br />Sorry about the Tasco, they aren't too highly regarded in here, but the Luminova is probably a much better product than their cheap little refractors.

 

[vogon13]

Can you clarify the question?<br /><br />Do you feel that since Venus was crescent shaped it was partially eclipsed by a body between Venus and earth?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[thepidler]

Hey thanks harmonicaman. How cool is that, but I don't understand how a star cluster could eclipse venus..<br /><br />Yeah - understand on the Tasco. Maybe I'll use it enough to justify buying a good scope, but this one works for now, and hey - for $50 I saw Venus being eclisped last night from my back yard. <br /><br />Thanks again!

 

[thepidler]

Man - I dunno vogon...<br /><br />Is Venus supposed to be cresent shaped? I just looked and saw that Venus was cresent shaped and wondered why? Is it the scope or is there some other reason? Or maybe that is normal. I dunno...<br /><br />Sorry for the confusing Q!!

 

[vogon13]

It's crescent shaped because it lies between earth and sun. When it is farthest from earth, we see a nearly full Venus (the sunlit side), when it is closest to earth we see a nearly dark Venus (the unlit side) In betwen, we see phases like our moon exhibits.<br /><br />Note: We don't see Venus totally lit or dark because at those points in its' path, we need to look directly at the sun.<br /><br /><br />No eclipse neccessary. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[thepidler]

Thanks vogon, that makes sense. Appreciate your time.

 

[CalliArcale]

To elaborate a little more, Venus is called an "inferior planet". This means it orbits the Sun closer than Earth. Mercury is the only other inferior planet. The others are all called "superior planets" because they orbit farther away than Earth. Inferior planets will show phases -- if you observe Mercury at the right time, it will also appear as a crescent! But the other planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and if you have a good telescope, Uranus and Neptune; Pluto won't show a disk in any amateur telescope) will never appear as a crescent from Earth. They may appear slightly shaded around one edge at some times, but that's all the more shadow you'll get on them.<br /><br />Check out Solar System Live for a good visual; you can look at the actual current locations of the planets relative to one another, or set it for any given day.<br /><br />Oh, and there have been rare times when Venus has been observed completely dark -- when it transits the Sun. These events are rare and the cause of frantic activity by astronomers trying to catch the brief once-in-a-lifetime observation. I missed the last one; it clouded up. But a lot of people did catch it. Check out this page at Astronomy Picture of the Day: APOD 2004 June 23 - A Picturesque Venus Transit. The next transit will be a Mercury transit next November, but be careful -- use safe solar observing techniques. Venus' next transit will be in 2012. Venus rarely transits even twice a century; the next transit after that will be in the 22nd Century. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[thepidler]

Hey thanks - cool sites!

 

[mpai]

Do not forget to observe Venus on the evening of 1st January next year. This 2nd rock from the sun will be at its thinnest crescent in 2006.<br /><br />Enjoy!