Jupiter and Venus

[RRconway]

Jupiter and Venus both very bright and close together in the west currently.
Very impressive if you brave the cool air!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Robin]

Hi Jeff.

Very bright indeed, and also very cold down here in the Garden of England.

Robin.

[agdickie]

Enough so that I fired up the Star Walk app on my iPhone to figure out what they were.

[someguy1]

Thanks for the heads up they look very nice indeed!!

Which one was which?

[RRconway]

Jupiter is on the left with four if its moons also on view with binoculars.
They will be there for a few nights yet but moving closer and more vertical to each other

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Mixed grill]

I live in the Midlands and both are clearly visable from my garden, is it a rare event for them both to be on view together like this ?

Just a shame one has no binoculars to take a closer look.

[Allan]

Mars is also visible high up towards the SE.

[boff180]

Also to the west/ south West of Jupiter there is a bright blue point of light...

That's Uranus, all three were together the other night.

[DanH]

Also to the west/ south West of Jupiter there is a bright blue point of light...

That's Uranus, all three were together the other night.

So you're saying that the light shines out of Uranus?

I'm sorry, so crude of me.

[Dragon Rapide]

Jupiter and Venus both very bright and close together in the west currently.
Very impressive if you brave the cool air!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

Are they visible well above the horizon from sunset onwards or later in the night?

[Robin]

There is always someone wishing to lower the tone . Go wash your mouth out

Robin.

[DanH]

:lol: There is always someone wishing to lower the tone . Go wash your mouth out

Robin.

I like that, Ive added it to my signature.

[Dragon Rapide]

So, now we know what to expect......

[RRconway]

Jupiter and Venus both very bright and close together in the west currently.
Very impressive if you brave the cool air!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

Are they visible well above the horizon from sunset onwards or later in the night?

About 45 to 60 degrees above the horizon, with 90 being directly overhead and the horizon 0 degrees.
They will be there again tomorrow!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

[RRconway]

Heres a couple of pictures I took tonight from my back garden, be gentle I am in South Ruislip and they were above a local football ground with all the floodlights on!!!!

Anyway,
Two of Jupiter and Venus, Jupiter accompanied by four of its moons, Io, Ganymede, Callista and Europa.





....and one if the Pleiades or Seven Sisters



....and the sword on Orions belt, the fuzzy area in the centre is the Orion Nebula.



Hope you like them,

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Skyflash]

Those are lovely shots, especially well done with capturing the Jovian moons. Amazing just how clearly visible they are in those shots.

[boff180]

Had a good look through my 60x spotting scope tonight, they were stunning.

I found Venus too bright to pick out any detail but on Jupiter.... I could easily make out the dark band in the atmosphere! Simply wow!

We have an astro telescope that we have never used, going to get it out this week and take a much closer look.

Andy

[DanO1978]

Great images!

[RRconway]

Thanks guys,

Boff, I dont think there is much detail to pick out on Venus anyway.

Skyflash, Its amazing how much the moons move, when I looked a couple of hours later one had disappeared all toghether, on another night they can be strung out as far as 2 or 3 times the planet disc away from each other, it really gives you an idea of how dynamic the universe is!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Mantog]

Hi Jeff, what lens did u get those shots with, and what shutter speed / aperture did you set? I've got a 100-400mm ...wondering if I can achieve anything like these great pictures!

[boff180]

Saturn is also now visible after 8.30pm

It appears very low in the sky as a very large orange light (I first thought it was a plane on approach last night it is that bright). You therefore need to be in a rural area or at a high point to see it.

To locate it, look at Venus and turn left approx 120degrees and you will be looking straight at it.

Andy

[RRconway]

Hi Jeff, what lens did u get those shots with, and what shutter speed / aperture did you set? I've got a 100-400mm ...wondering if I can achieve anything like these great pictures!

Hi Mantog,

Sorry for the delay in replying.

They were taken with a 70-300 lens, the first one for example at 270mm, so with a 400 you should get even closer.
I use aperture priority at f5.6 (no depth of field required!!!!) at iso 3200, any lower and the shutter speed slows and you start to get trails, which hide Jupiters moons, these had a shutter speed of 1 sec.
Use manual focus its much more accurate.

They are still in the west at the moment, slightly further apart, with Venus above Jupiter. With a clear view of the horizon you should still see them at 21:00.

Good luck!!!!,
Cheers,
Jeff.

[stuart n]

Jupiter isn't as bright now but there is a great view of Jupiter below Venus tonight with the cresent moon as well

[Wes_Howes]

My friend Steve and I were looking at the Moon, Jupiter and Venus tonight, through the scope on his air rifle and we could make out Ganymede and Callisto whilst looking at Jupiter. It boggles the mind to actually think of the distances involved when viewing such object

[Mantog]

Cheers RR!