Venus, Mercury, and the Moon Tonight - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Graplr · #1 04-15-2010, 11:33 AM

Tonight, about a half hour after sunset, look west. You will be able to find Venus, the Moon, and maybe Mercury.

Venus will be easy to spot. It is the brightest "star" in the west. The moon will look like a thin smile. Mercury should be right below the moon (it will most likely be hard to see, binoculars may help).

For me in Minnesota, the Sun sets almost exactly at 8pm. I would expect to see Venus within the first 15 minutes as it is so bright. I should be able to see the moon shortly after and then within the next half hour I should be able to spot Mercury. But, don't wait too long as they will set within a hour to an hour and a half or so after sunset.

It is best if you have a unavaided view west (no trees or buildings). If not try to get to a high point. I walk up a hill by my house to look over the treeline. I took a picture of Venus and Mercury last week (see the attached image). Mercury is now further down and to the right. The moon should be right about where Mercury is in the picture. I had to use a low res pic to upload to the forum. In the high res pic, one can easily see Mercury.

The skies are looking to be clear tonight and I will try and take a picture.

Good luck!

pj67coll · #2 04-15-2010, 12:18 PM

Cool. I'll be checking it out clouds permitting.

- Peter.

Graplr · #3 04-15-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj67coll

Cool. I'll be checking it out clouds permitting.

- Peter.

I knew you would be interested.

Waiting for Mistress to see it.

dannym · #4 04-15-2010, 01:52 PM

You could have looked up for the past 3 weeks and seen this. This is one of the few times you can see Mercury. Usually it's just over the Eastern horizon just before dawn.

Their both pretty easy to see right now.

Danny

Graplr · #5 04-15-2010, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannym

You could have looked up for the past 3 weeks and seen this. This is one of the few times you can see Mercury. Usually it's just over the Eastern horizon just before dawn.

Their both pretty easy to see right now.

Danny

Ahhh, that is where you are incorrect. The moon will only be this close tonight!

Graplr · #6 04-16-2010, 10:18 AM

Click on the image for full size viewing!

I took this picture last night. I could not see Mercury in the sky. It became visible when I uploaded the pictures to my computer. The moon is a 3% illuminated Waxing Crescent. The reason you can see the "darkside" is because of something called earthshine. Earthshine is the artificial light created by humans (houselights, streetlamps, etc) at night time. This light then reflects off of the moon's surface.

pj67coll · #7 04-16-2010, 11:42 AM

We were clouded out so I saw nothing.

- Peter.

Graplr · #8 04-16-2010, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj67coll

We were clouded out so I saw nothing.

- Peter.

Well hopefully you enjoyed the pic above. Both planets will be in about the same position tonight. The moon will be a bit higher in the sky and more illuminated (7% tonight). I'm not sure if you will be able to see Mercury or not. Since you are further south you will probably have a better chance since it will be moving more straight up and down then at an angle (which makes it appear higher in the sky).

pj67coll · #9 04-16-2010, 01:13 PM

It's a neat pic all right. I'll be out looking again this evening.

- Peter.

kerry · #10 04-16-2010, 01:35 PM

I saw all three last week. Very cool.

WVOtoGO · #11 04-16-2010, 03:18 PM

Nice view. Thanks for posting.

There’s too much cloud cover here in N.TX. (must be a race weekend)

We may have to head a bit west to take a look with the scopes this evening.

Here’s the local view at sunset local (DFW) per my SNE and scope drive program.

pj67coll · #12 04-16-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVOtoGO

Nice view. Thanks for posting.

There’s too much cloud cover here in N.TX. (must be a race weekend)

We may have to head a bit west to take a look with the scopes this evening.

Here’s the local view at sunset local (DFW) per my SNE and scope drive program.

What scopes do you have?

- Peter.

WVOtoGO · #13 04-17-2010, 10:09 AM

All of our scopes are Celestron.
We’ve known a few of the folks with them for years now. Good people. Good product.

Been using the NexStar 8SE. Like it a lot. CN16 GPS. The handheld control and database are good, and the 3 point alignment is easy enough for the kids (10 and 13) to set.

Our latest addition is the new CGE 1400 with GPS and NexRemote control software on a dedicated Sony Vaio.
The kids like to load a series of views/tracks on NexTour. It’s sort of a plug (RS232) and play thing for them. I’m not real keen on the speech support side of it (kinda creepy) but the kids like it.
I'm into astrophotography, and am still looking for the right CCD for it. Not sure on that step yet though.

pj67coll · #14 04-17-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVOtoGO

All of our scopes are Celestron.
We’ve known a few of the folks with them for years now. Good people. Good product.

Been using the NexStar 8SE. Like it a lot. CN16 GPS. The handheld control and database are good, and the 3 point alignment is easy enough for the kids (10 and 13) to set.

Our latest addition is the new CGE 1400 with GPS and NexRemote control software on a dedicated Sony Vaio.
The kids like to load a series of views/tracks on NexTour. It’s sort of a plug (RS232) and play thing for them. I’m not real keen on the speech support side of it (kinda creepy) but the kids like it.
I'm into astrophotography, and am still looking for the right CCD for it. Not sure on that step yet though.

Very nice. I wish I had that kind of money to throw around. My dream scope ever since I was in my early teens was a C14. I'd love to have an old orange tube on on forks in my observatory. Of course I'd love to even have an observatory to start with. Maybe one day...

- Peter.

WVOtoGO · #15 04-17-2010, 09:21 PM

Put your mind to it and...well...no pun... “The sky’s the limit.”

You’ll get one.

Ours was actually a demo. Though not new, buying used did have its plus side in that all the kinks had been previously worked out by the folks far more in the know than I. And a savings of over two grand off new.

The big issue with it is the set-up and take-down times. We usually set it up on a movable helipad. But even then we have to cover it and we don’t like it set up for too long in the hangar anyway.

Darby wants a more “eternal home” for it, so we looked into an ExploraDome to mount on the pad. Problem there is the room. Not much of it at 8’ once you put a table and such for charts, the computer, accessories, eyepiece box, etc. So now we’re looking into the SkyShed Pod with two "pod bays", one on each end (180 out). Not sure how or when anything there will turn out. That's kinda on hold.

Are you into any clubs out there?
Nothing wrong with looking through other folks rigs.

They had a club down north of Ft. Worth that was one of our favorites. Everything from binoculars to some major tubes. The two things everyone had in common were the love to look up, and the love to drink while doing so. Some nights, it was a wonder how anyone could focus at all.

We almost always had a wine tasting in conjunction with star gazing. Awesome late night combo! I guess it was a nice way for the “social wives” to spend more time with their “geek husbands”. Great times had by all.
We miss that group.

Darby took the kids down to San Antonio for the weekend... So I'm solo...
Looks like any gazing tonight will be in the office here on Imaginova’s Starry Night Enthusiast. Weather here stinks...