Venus in Blue Skies.

[garinda]

Are we closer to Venus, than we used to be?

Growing up, thirty odd years ago, the post prominent star seemed to be the Pole/North star .

The last few years it seems to easily have been dwarfed by Venus.

It was clearly visible in day light last week, as we drove back over the moors from Bolton.

Dazzlingly bright, and so large to the naked eye it looked round, like a smaller moon.

Is it on a different orbit at the moment, bringing it closer to Earth than in years gone by, which could explain it's high visibility?

Not complaining.

It's truly beautiful to behold.

Just curious as to why it's much more noticable now, at least to me, than in the night skies of my childhood memories.

[mobertol]

Lovely photo - I can see it too right outside the front of my house. (Not tonight though as it's raining!) It's the first one to be seen even before the sun has gone down completely in the evening. If I'm not mistaken it has always been called the "Evening Star".

Don't think it can be closer -possibly it's just because you are now facing West that you notice it more as it's in your direct line of sight right now.

Was a big fan of astronomy as a kid and still have my telescope which I was given when about 10 -i remember that in the mid 70's there was a year they called the Year of the Planets, as during that year all the planets were visible at some point. I think I saw Jupiter and Saturn as well as the usual Venus and Mars which are easier to find.

[mobertol]

Just googled it as I was in doubt about the evening star name -this is a good explanation:Try and work out which way your family home is orientated and then you'll see the night sky you remember in the same direction i think. I always remember seeing Orion and the Great Bear outside the front of our house.

Venus is both the "Morning Star" and the "Evening Star". After the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky, so it is very noticeable.

Venus's orbit is closer to the sun than the Earth's so it will always appear to be near the sun. It can never be more than 40 degrees away. The key is which side of the sun it is on.

For about a an extended period it is west of the sun and will appear on the horizon before the sun rises in the morning (The Morning Star). Then it goes behind the sun and disappears. At mum and dad's inTenerife i've seen it as the morning star over the sea -spectacular.
Later it reappears east of the sun and is seen in the evening after the sun set (The Evening Star). Finally it passes in front of the sun and is overwhelmed by the sun's light.

Mar's is considerably further away from the Sun than earth and can be pretty much anywhere in the night sky, not just near the sun.

[garinda]

'One of the curiosities of our solar system is that Venus completes almost exactly 13 orbits of the Sun for every 8 orbits of the Earth. The periodic gravitational interaction between the two worlds over billions of years means that this near-resonance may not be coincidental. However, it does have the effect that Venus returns to almost the same place in our sky every 8 years and that its current spell as a dazzling evening star is very nearly a repeat of that in 2004.'


Starwatch: Venus on 147-years high | Science | The Guardian


'Nothing in the current night sky can compare, though, with the spectacle being played out in our western evening sky.'










Perhaps it's just that my house now faces directly west, and my childhood bedroom faced north.


So I just didn't notice, as I gazed out of the window looking for shooting stars.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by garinda

Are we closer to Venus, than we used to be?

Growing up, thirty odd years ago, the post prominent star seemed to be the Pole/North star .

The last few years it seems to easily have been dwarfed by Venus.

It was clearly visible in day light last week, as we drove back over the moors from Bolton.

Dazzlingly bright, and so large to the naked eye it looked round, like a smaller moon.

Is it on a different orbit at the moment, bringing it closer to Earth than in years gone by, which could explain it's high visibility?

Not complaining.

It's truly beautiful to behold.

Just curious as to why it's much more noticable now, at least to me, than in the night skies of my childhood memories.

Venus has always been referred to as the morning & evening star,
depending on the configuration of the planets, in relation to the sun, it can appear brighter at different times over the years.
Retlaw.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by mobertol

Lovely photo - I can see it too right outside the front of my house. (Not tonight though as it's raining!) It's the first one to be seen even before the sun has gone down completely in the evening. If I'm not mistaken it has always been called the "Evening Star".

Don't think it can be closer -possibly it's just because you are now facing West that you notice it more as it's in your direct line of sight right now.

Was a big fan of astronomy as a kid and still have my telescope which I was given when about 10 -i remember that in the mid 70's there was a year they called the Year of the Planets, as during that year all the planets were visible at some point. I think I saw Jupiter and Saturn as well as the usual Venus and Mars which are easier to find.

I just twigged, it might be the direction of my field of view, that means I notice it more now.

We'll settle for great minds, thinking alike.

Rather than us being the Fesso Gemelli.

[susie123]

A rare astronomical event involving Venus coming up in a few weeks time:

Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.


A transit took place on 8 June 2004 and the next will be on 5 and 6 June 2012. The previous pair of transits were in December 1874 and December 1882. After 2012, the next transits of Venus will be in December 2117 and December 2125.


First observed in 1639, in Lancashire, by Jeremiah Horrocks from his home in Much Hoole, near Preston. His friend, William Crabtree, also observed this transit from Broughton, near Manchester.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus


Transit of Venus, 2012 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by garinda

I just twigged, it might be the direction of my field of view, that means I notice it more now.

We'll settle for great minds, thinking alike.

Rather than us being the Fesso Gemelli.

I prefer the idea of having a great mind rather than being "Fesso" as you say!

Was starting to wonder if all this noticing Venus meant you were becoming a romantic in your old age

[Eric]

It has, I think, to do with the Transit of Venus .... I seem to remember from googleless days that Captain Cook went to Tahiti to observe it in 1700 and something or other. Though, I can think of much better things to do in Tahiti. Or it could be, Garinda, that you are seeing it more clearly because, a couple of days ago, you had that rousing old song of the sea ... The Good Ship Venus ... running through your mind.

[mobertol]

[quote=susie123;993156]A rare astronomical event involving Venus coming up in a few weeks time:

Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.


A transit took place on 8 June 2004 and the next will be on 5 and 6 June 2012.


In astrological terms what will this mean i wonder -being a Libran and governed by Venus it could be something significant

[Eric]

[quote=mobertol;993161]

Originally Posted by susie123

A rare astronomical event involving Venus coming up in a few weeks time:

Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.


A transit took place on 8 June 2004 and the next will be on 5 and 6 June 2012.


In astrological terms what will this mean i wonder -being a Libran and governed by Venus it could be something significant

Could mean that some wit is going to immortalize you in song .... and create a new verse for The Good Ship in your honor.

[MargaretR]

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
scroll down the page to read about Venus and

Coca-Cola Space Science Center Membership
to read about the transit that will happen early June

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Eric

Though, I can think of much better things to do in Tahiti.

What, pull out your palette, and knock one out?








In reply to Mobertol.

Old?

Romantic?

An old, romantic?

How very dare you.

No.

I am neither.

......


I'll stick with my nab 'em, and stab 'em method.

Much less mess.



Back to Venus.

Is it always to the west?

Nevermind romance, all those charts showing the various orbits leave me cold, and rather confused.

A little like the emotion you Earthlings call 'love'.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Eric

Or it could be, Garinda, that you are seeing it more clearly because, a couple of days ago, you had that rousing old song of the sea ... The Good Ship Venus ... running through your mind.

True. I did hum that very ditty the other day.

Though I don't think the inspiration was celestial.

'...wasn't fit to shovel s...pace dust, from one place to another.'

Still can't think what, or who, brought that bawdy ol' song to mind yet.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by garinda

True. I did hum that very ditty the other day.

Though I don't think the inspiration was celestial.

'...wasn't fit to shovel s...pace dust, from one place to another.'

Still can't think what, or who, brought that bawdy ol' song to mind yet.

Bawdy? I always found it quite tasteful, right up there with the Ball of Kirriemuir (or, Kerrymuir, if you prefer) ... that one even has virgins, 420 of them, which will make it acceptable in a certain parallell culture.