Venus

[lorenzo]

Jupiter is putting on a helluva show just now traversing our night sky. Just noticed in Focus magazine ( admitted limited grasp of astronomy) that Venus is the next planet due to light up the night sky.

Like the idea of this link as it shows, hopefully, new things to look out for.

http://astronomycentral.co.uk/planets-to-see-in-the-sky-tonight

[summer blizzard]

Theres a thread already for this (called what is that bright light in the sky or something).

[lorenzo]

Theres a thread already for this (called what is that bright light in the sky or something).

Yes I replied in that thread as this eventually saw someone reporting a flare - That was someone querying Jupiter.

Venus is just beginning its arc just now in a different part of the sky.. Correct me if am wrong or mods merge this to that thread please.

[Jane Louise]

Thanks for sharing I am going to look for Venus as well as Jupiter tonight.Will bring it up on Stellarium.

[Stargazer]

Don't think you'll see Venus easily for another couple of weeks at least - it's drawing away from the sun but because it's further south than the sun at the moment it sets very soon after the sun at our northerly latitude (Venus is best seen in the evenings in spring and mornings in autumn). If you have a very clear horizon you might just catch it with binoculars very low down just after sunset (but be careful, of course, to wait until sunset). This year Venus will be a fine object in the western sky throughout the winter.

With binoculars and a clear horizon it might also be possible to see Mercury, just below Venus, around the middle of the month - it's much fainter and, again, this isn't the best time of year to see it in the evenings so it will be very low at sunset.

[Jane Louise]

Now I've moved more rural I have a perfect sky with no light pollution for viewing stars and planets. Will keep my eye out for Venus within the next couple of weeks. Jupiter looks stunning tonight.Just got to get the right lens on the scope for a closer view.

[Roger J Smith]

Something to keep in mind or mark on the calendar, around 12 March when Venus will be much higher and more prominent, it will be close to Jupiter to form a bright double-planet spectacle in the evening skies. I don't have precise timing available and took this from a rather low-resolution orbital diagram, so within 2-3 days of that date ... we can get more specific timing closer to the event although the two planets should make an interesting spectacle for several days. The crescent new moon would also be part of the scene around the end of February and again the end of March, but not precisely with the close conjunction (moon will be full then).

[Alan Robinson]

Something to keep in mind or mark on the calendar, around 12 March when Venus will be much higher and more prominent, it will be close to Jupiter to form a bright double-planet spectacle in the evening skies. I don't have precise timing available and took this from a rather low-resolution orbital diagram, so within 2-3 days of that date ... we can get more specific timing closer to the event although the two planets should make an interesting spectacle for several days. The crescent new moon would also be part of the scene around the end of February and again the end of March, but not precisely with the close conjunction (moon will be full then).

That will be good to see, although not a patch on the show a few years back, when was it now, 2005? In the evening to the west we could see Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all very close in a line. It really was a marvellous sight.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Something to keep in mind or mark on the calendar, around 12 March when Venus will be much higher and more prominent, it will be close to Jupiter to form a bright double-planet spectacle in the evening skies.

Yamkin's going to be busy.