Venus

ESA: Unveiling Venus

May 24, 2012

With Venus about to get its day in the Sun — very much literally — the European Space Agency has assembled an excellent video about our planetary neighbor. Watch the video below: 

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Amazing Astrophoto: The Phases of Venus

May 24, 2012

Wow! Take a look at how Venus has changed in the night sky the past five months! “The Planet Venus, The Roman goddess of love and beauty and the closest planet to us — especially now just as it gets closest — will transit across the Sun soon,” said astrophotographer Efrain Morales. “This sequence is [...]

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Astrophoto: Lovely Crescent Venus by John Chumack

May 20, 2012

Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus has never looked more gorgeous! Prolific and accomplished astrophotographer John Chumack captured this shot of a crescent Venus on May 14, 2012 as it moves in for a transit of the Sun. Just 14% of Venus’ face was illuminated, 22 Days before the June 5th [...]

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Venus Transit — There’s an App for That!

May 17, 2012

There have been only six Venus transits since the invention of the telescope in the early 17th century. It was not until 1761 that the transit of Venus on June 6th was observed as part of the first ever international scientific observation project, instigated by Edmond Halley. Astronomers across the globe viewed the transit and [...]

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How the Hubble Telescope Will Look at the Moon to See Venus Transit the Sun

May 4, 2012

Venus moving across the face of the Sun, from our vantage point here on Earth, is such a rare event, that astronomers and observatories around the world have been preparing for this year’s Venus Transit, on June 5-6. And one observatory that is literally “around the world,” – the Hubble Space Telescope — is even [...]

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2012 Venus Transit – The Countdown Is On!

May 3, 2012

Head outside on any clear night this week and you won’t be able to miss brilliant Venus decorating the western horizon. Right now it’s surrounded by a host of bright winter stars like Capella, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and the Pleiades. But, don’t stop there. Use any type of optical aid and you’ll see the planet is [...]

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The Mystery of Venus’ Ashen Light

April 27, 2012

May is the best time to try and spot one of the most enduring unsolved mysteries in our Solar System. Ashen Light is a faint glow allegedly seen on the unlit portion of Venus, during its crescent phase, similar to the earthshine often observed on the Moon, though not as bright. It is more commonly [...]

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Great ISS Sightings – All Nights this Week of April 9

April 10, 2012

Calling all Skywatching and Space Fans ! This is a great week for observing the International Space Station (ISS), swiftly crossing the evening nighttime sky. All this week from Monday thru Saturday, folks all across vast portions of the United States and Canada will be treated to fabulous viewings of the International Space Station. And [...]

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Planetary Conjunction Mashup

April 9, 2012

A Boulder Side of Venus – Conjunctions 2012 from Patrick Cullis on Vimeo. So far, 2012 has brought us a plethora of planetary conjunctions, with Venus pairing with the Moon, Jupiter and the Pleiades. Not all at the same time, of course, but photographer Patrick Cullis has put them all together in this wonderful timelapse [...]

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Astrophotos from Around the World of the Venus-Pleiades Conjunction

April 5, 2012

The past several evenings, Venus has been snuggling up to one of the most famous star clusters, the Pleiades. Universe Today readers have taken some beautiful images of that event, and they have generously shared them with us. Above is John Chumack’s stunning view from Ohio in the US; see below for more images from [...]

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Watch Live Webcast of Venus-Pleiades Conjunction April 4, 2012

April 3, 2012

There’s a nice meetup in the heavens tonight: bright Venus is snuggling up to one of the most famous star clusters, the Pleiades. The Slooh Space Camera is broadcasting a live, real-time feed of the most famous star cluster in the heavens, the Pleiades, meeting up with our nearest and brightest planetary neighbor, Venus. Slooh’s [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – March 19-25, 2012

March 18, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! The week starts off with new Moon and the perfect opportunity to do a Messier Marathon. The planets continue to dazzle as we not only celebrate the Vernal Equinox, but the March Geminid meteor shower as well! If that doesn’t get your pulsar racing – nothing will. It’s time to get out [...]

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Astrophoto: Conjunction Symmetry by Rick Ellis

March 17, 2012

It’s poetry in motion! Rick Ellis from Toronto, Canada created this 27 frame-composite of the conjunction between Venus and Jupiter on March 13, 2012, with 6 second exposures five minutes apart. Rick used a Canon A460, ISO 80. Beautiful! Check out Rick’s website for more poetry — seriously — and more images. See our previous [...]

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Venus

March 12, 2012

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is located between Mercury and the Earth. The planet has been known to exist since ancient times. Aside from the Sun and the Moon, it is the brightest object in the sky. Although the ancients knew about Venus, some of the cultures thought it was two [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast – March 12-18, 2012

March 11, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! What an awesome display of planets! Please take the time to walk outdoors just after skydark – regardless of where you live – and enjoy the bright display of Venus and Jupiter! However, this isn’t the only planetary action going on this week… Mars and M96 pair up, as well as Uranus [...]

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Night Sky Guide: March 2012

March 2, 2012

Special thanks to Ninian Boyle astronomyknowhow.com for information in parts of this guide. March brings us some wonderful sights to see in the night skies for those who are armed with binoculars, telescopes or just their eyes. The brightest object in the night sky this month (apart from the Moon) is the Planet Venus. Venus [...]

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A Weekend Sky Show: Moon, Venus and Jupiter

February 26, 2012

As promised by Nancy in a previous article on Universe Today, Venus was visible during the daylight hours this Saturday, very close to the crescent Moon. If you had clear weather you may have been able to catch a glimpse of the scene above, photographed from my location in north Texas at 6:35 p.m. local [...]

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See Venus in Daylight This Weekend

February 24, 2012

The planet Venus is so bright that when conditions are right, it can be visible in full daylight. This weekend, and especially on Saturday, February 25, 2012, conditions should be just right for seeing Venus in the daytime. Our friend Gadi Eidelheit sent us his tips for seeing Venus, and says it is easier to [...]

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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: February 19-25, 2012

February 18, 2012

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It’s going to be an awesome week as we watch the planets – Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury – dance along the ecliptic plane. You don’t even need a telescope for this show! But that’s not all. We’ll take a look at a wealth of bright star clusters, challenging studies and [...]

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Is Venus’ Rotation Slowing Down?

February 10, 2012

New measurements from ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft shows that Venus’ rotation rate is about 6.5 minutes slower than previous measurements taken 16 years ago by the Magellan spacecraft. Using infrared instruments to peer through the planet’s dense atmosphere, Venus Express found surface features weren’t where the scientists expected them to be. “When the two maps [...]

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