The Moon and Venus

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  • ardcarp
    Late member
    • Nov 2010
    • 11102

    The Moon and Venus

    Has anyone looked at the crescent moon and Venus over the past couple of days in the early evening? They've been quite stunningly beautiful, the two being very close. Looks as if it may be clear again tonight. We're lucky to have dark skies where we live (i.e. no light pollution). Orion is spectacular too.
  • gradus
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 5604

    #2
    Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
    Has anyone looked at the crescent moon and Venus over the past couple of days in the early evening? They've been quite stunningly beautiful, the two being very close. Looks as if it may be clear again tonight. We're lucky to have dark skies where we live (i.e. no light pollution). Orion is spectacular too.
    Yes, I was looking at them last night with my grandson.

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    • DracoM
      Host
      • Mar 2007
      • 12960

      #3
      Deepest Dreich here - no stars, or mere peeping ghosts in breaks.

      Comment

      • Richard Barrett
        Guest
        • Jan 2016
        • 6259

        #4
        Yes. I was in Switzerland last week, clear mountain skies, Venus and Orion particularly beautiful.

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        • StephenMcK
          Full Member
          • Jan 2020
          • 70

          #5
          Major light pollution around my manor, but hopefully on a clear, crisp night I'll be able to get a gander.

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          • Dave2002
            Full Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 18009

            #6
            The moon and Venus are pulling apart - the best view was probably two days ago, weather, clouds, rain permitting. Last night was hopeless - rain and clouds. I got a shot - not a great one, but a shot nevertheless, last month. I think there’ll be another chance in February towards the end of the month.
            Last edited by Dave2002; 02-02-20, 18:19.

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            • ardcarp
              Late member
              • Nov 2010
              • 11102

              #7
              the best view was probably two days ago
              Yes (was it two or three?) the moon (waxing crescent) was lying on its back and Venus was above it...like a lump of sugar waiting to fall into a cup. Not a very poetic simile I'm afraid.
              Last edited by ardcarp; 30-01-20, 14:03.

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              • kernelbogey
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 5736

                #8
                Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
                Yes (was it two or three?) the moon (waxing crescent) was lying on its back and Venus was above it...like a lump of sugar waiting to fall into a cup. Nat a very poetic simile I'm afraid.
                Yes I did see and note this a couple of days ago, in clear skies: very beautiful.

                Late, late yestreen I saw the new Moon,
                With the old Moon in her arms ;
                And I fear, I fear, My Master dear !
                We shall have a deadly storm.


                (Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence)

                I always remember those first two lines when I see that new moon with the darker image of the remainder.

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                • ardcarp
                  Late member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 11102

                  #9
                  Nothing to do with the moon and Venus, but those with an interest in things astronomical might be interested to see this picture sent to me by a Norwegian niece. She and friends were skiing on a hillside near Tromsø, and this was their first sight of the sun returning after weeks of darkness.



                  Taken towards the end of January.

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                  • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                    Gone fishin'
                    • Sep 2011
                    • 30163

                    #10


                    Many thanks, ardy.
                    [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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                    • ardcarp
                      Late member
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 11102

                      #11
                      Moon and Venus seem to be coming together again. Fantastic here on this cold clear night. No wonder the movements of the planets were a mystery to the ancients. They called them 'wanderers' I think. Clever old Kepler working it all out.

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                      • Bryn
                        Banned
                        • Mar 2007
                        • 24688

                        #12
                        Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
                        Moon and Venus seem to be coming together again. Fantastic here on this cold clear night. No wonder the movements of the planets were a mystery to the ancients. They called them 'wanderers' I think. Clever old Kepler working it all out.
                        As here. I was quite bowled over by the sight of them. It helps that the moon is in a crescent stage, so Venus is that much comparatively brighter.

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                        • ardcarp
                          Late member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 11102

                          #13
                          Sorry to keep resurrecting this topic, but maybe we need some beauty in our lives. Early this evening, a wisp of a new moon was lying on its back and tinted orange as it slid towards the horizon. Above it Venus was as bright as it could be. Then the magic. Seen from where I was standing, a bat was flitting back and forth on a path between the two. And I didn't have to leave home to see it!

                          Comment

                          • Dave2002
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 18009

                            #14
                            Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
                            Sorry to keep resurrecting this topic, but maybe we need some beauty in our lives. Early this evening, a wisp of a new moon was lying on its back and tinted orange as it slid towards the horizon. Above it Venus was as bright as it could be. Then the magic. Seen from where I was standing, a bat was flitting back and forth on a path between the two. And I didn't have to leave home to see it!
                            No don't apologise - I just wish I'd remembered, but the CV business has sidetracked many of us. I meant to go out and take photos of this. I checked with Stellarium ( free download if people don't know about it) and it should be good tomorrow too for an hour or two after 7pm, and still visible on Saturday at roughly similar times. Whether it works visually may very well depend on the weather though - last month was a bit of a wash out.

                            It might also be worth looking again next month from the 25th for a few days, but it may be too light to get a good view. If anything worth seeing is possible it'll be later in the evening, say from 9pm onwards.

                            Not sure I'm desperate to see bats right now, though. Have they been ruled out as part of the problem we currently face?

                            Comment

                            • Bryn
                              Banned
                              • Mar 2007
                              • 24688

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
                              No don't apologise - I just wish I'd remembered, but the CV business has sidetracked many of us. I meant to go out and take photos of this. I checked with Stellarium ( free download if people don't know about it) and it should be good tomorrow too for an hour or two after 7pm, and still visible on Saturday at roughly similar times. Whether it works visually may very well depend on the weather though - last month was a bit of a wash out.

                              It might also be worth looking again next month from the 25th for a few days, but it may be too light to get a good view. If anything worth seeing is possible it'll be later in the evening, say from 9pm onwards.

                              Not sure I'm desperate to see bats right now, though. Have they been ruled out as part of the problem we currently face?
                              If the virus did jump from a bat, it was not the bat's choice. It was in the market as food, to be killed on demand. Bats are far too well equipped with echolocation to accidentally get close to a human.

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