venus

I Didn’t Know!

 in Blog  tagged climate change / closest planet / facing / greenhouse effect / radio astronomy / radio telescope / tidal lock / venus

Although it has been known for about 50 years, I had never heard it until this was on APOD a few days ago (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200603.html).  Venus is a rocky planet, like Earth, but is covered by thick clouds that obscure all details of the planet’s surface.  But using radio telescopes, astronomers were able to “see” some details, which pretty soon led to an amazing discovery:  Venus always shows us the same side.  More specifically, Venus’ orbit and rotation are synchronized with Earth such that every time Venus is at “inferior conjunction” (when it is closest to us), the same side of […]

The Mercury Transit

 in Blog  tagged Mercury / Mercury Transit / sun / venus

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html Tomorrow, Nov. 11th, the planet Mercury will pass between Earth and the Sun, appearing to take a leisurely stroll across the Sun over a period of about 5.5 hours.  Unfortunately, it is likely to be cloudy here, and even it it isn’t, this “transit” as it is called will be more than half over by the time the Sun comes up.  But on the East coast people will get to see most of it, weather permitting. Because Mercury and Venus are closer to the Sun than Earth is, we get to see them somewhat differently than we do the […]

Can You See it?

 in Blog  tagged conjunction / jupiter / venus

As noted in my 2016 Calendar (https://wa-chur-ed.com/astro-photo-printsimagescalendars/), there will be a very close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter tomorrow, August 27th.  Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), the closest encounter of the two planets will be difficult to see here in North America.  It’s not surprising because Venus is never very far from the Sun, and at this time it’s actually quite close. However, if you wait until just after sunset you should be able to see them just above the western horizon for a short time, and they will still be quite close.  On the east coast the separation will be […]

Transit of Venus

 in Gallery / Solar System  tagged solar system / sun / transit / trees / venus

On June 5th, 2012 Venus crossed between Earth and the Sun. This will not happen again until 2117, so while it is not the most exciting astronomical event, it is quite rare.  This shot was taken through a “solar filter” that greatly reduces the brightness of the Sun, making it possible to see not only the silhouette of Venus, but also several sunspots. The trees, however, are somewhat fake. It is not possible for us to see anything so dark as these trees at the same time as these details on the surface of the Sun, although they really were […]