Daylight Venus With Naked Eye!

12th June Time: 17.25 local time.

I have always wanted to make a proper daylight Venus sighting with the naked eye not with the sun low on the horizon but a proper one. With the sun high up in the sky. After Conor and i observed the sun i decided to give it a go as todays conditions were perfect compared to the sky in recent days which have been very transparent and murky. The sun was glaring brightly overhead and the sky was transparent helped by a cool breeze. Apart from a selection of white puffy clouds the sky was clearing enough for daytime astronomical observing.

I set up the Meade 8" LX10 SCT in the back garden and with the 8X50 finder i began a careful slow vertical sweep starting close to the sun and working my way eastward. I very quickly found the planet as a silver point. In the 26mm LP eyepiece (49X) the planet was a nice tiny disk slightly gibbous which was apparent on the planets eastern side. Then i went for the big one.

With one eyepiece looking through the finder and the other on the sky i got a rough idea on its location then using both eyes sighted along the tube (the telrad blocked the suns glare) i scanned for the planet. I relaxed and tried oxygenating my brain with deep breaths to increase my eyes senstivity and bingo......3 times the planet popped into view. I then lifted my head away from the scope and starred into the bright blue sky with the glaring sun close by and i could see the planet again. It looked like a lovely pearly white tiny ball and i held it in direct vision with ease for along time as tiny white puffs of cloud drifted over it. What a thrill, i have always wanted to see the planet with no optical aid in the middle of the day and i done it. What a tremendous feeling of satisfaction!!!!! I am one happy camper today!

All best!

Well done Martin! I've tried this a couple of times myself but no luck yet. It's surprising how bright and easy it is to see in a finder but alas, I haven't seen it naked eye in the middle of the day yet. I reckon the sky needs to be very clear for it.

Hey Martin - that's one for the album! How did Conor get on - did he see it too?

Cheers

Dave McD

Very nice Martin. I've tried a couple of times but never succeded. You should be rightly proud of yourself!

After reading your post, I decided to try and spot Venus with the naked eye. I just about succeeded but only with the Sun about 2 degrees above the horizon. I found it extremely difficult to find and proved more challanging than I expected. However, it was with the Sun very low over the horizon. For you Martin to spot it with the Sun much higher up is a great achievement and is a sign that you must have very good eyesight and a very clear sky.

While I was at it I managed to spot see Saturn through the scope while the Sun was above the horizon. Unfortunately a tree blocked me from trying to see Mercury. Next time hopefully.

Thanks guys!

The higher up the planet is the better as you are looking through thinner atmosphere and it is always more transparent with better seeing there. Thats what i noticed anyway. I think the ultimate challenge would be to see it without tracking it down first with the finder ( i read this in a David levy book) ..so this is my next agenda as wel as spotting Mercury. Dont give up though because it is worth seeing...i still cant get the mental image out of my head.