Showing posts with label venus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venus. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Venus' Once Molten Surface

Venus' Once Molten Surface: APOD: 2013 June 23 - Venus' Once Molten Surface


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2013 June 23


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: If you could look across Venus with radar eyes, what might you see? This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft.   Magellan orbited Venus and used radar to map our neighboring planet's surface between 1990 and 1994. Magellan found many interesting surface features, including the large circular domes, typically 25-kilometers across, that are depicted above.   Volcanism is thought to have created the domes, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. Venus' surface is so hot and hostile that no surface probe has lasted more than a few minutes.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Catch a ‘Conjunction Triple Play’ on February 20th as the Moon Meets Venus & Mars

Catch a ‘Conjunction Triple Play’ on February 20th as the Moon Meets Venus & Mars:



The Moon passes Mars and Venus last month... this week's pass is much closer! (Photo by Author).


The Moon passes Mars and Venus last month… this week’s pass is much closer! (Photo by author).
Fear not, the chill of late February. This Friday gives lovers of the sky a reason to brave the cold and look westward for a spectacular close triple conjunction of the planets Mars, Venus and the waxing crescent Moon.

This week’s New Moon is auspicious for several reasons.  We discussed the vagaries of the Black Moon of February 2015 last week, and the lunacy surrounding the proliferation of the perigee supermoon. And Happy ‘Year of the Goat’ as reckoned on the Chinese luni-solar calendar, as this week’s New Moon marks the start of the Chinese New Year on February 19th. Or do you say Ram or Sheep? Technical timing for the New Moon is on Wednesday, February 18th at 23:47 UT/6:47 PM EST, marking the start of lunation 1140. The next New Moon on March 20th sees the start of the first of two eclipse seasons for 2015, with a total solar eclipse for the high Arctic. More on that next month!



Stellarium


Looking west on the evening of February 20th. Credit: Stellarium.
And today also marks Shrove Tuesday and the start of Lent, as reckoned 47 days prior to Easter Sunday. In Western Christianity, Easter falls on the first Sunday past the first Full Moon past March 21st. This is the demarcation date set for the March Equinox, which actually falls on March 20th this year. Such is the wonderful world of calendars and astronomy, as the struggle to keep recorded versus actual observed time in sync continues.



Credit and Copyright


The dawn crescent Moon paired with Venus on February 26th, 2014. Credit and Copyright: Efrain Morales.
The first sighting opportunities for the slim waxing crescent Moon will come Thursday night on February 19th. And don’t miss the main event on Friday, February 20th when Mars, Venus and the two day old waxing crescent Moon all fit within a two degree diameter circle — about four Full Moon diameters — prior to sunset.  You can’t miss brilliant Venus, shining at -4th magnitude as the 3rd brightest natural object in the sky next to the Sun and the Moon. Through a telescope, Venus presents an  88% illuminated disk 12” in size and growing, while Mars shines at +1.3 magnitude and is just 4.2” in size. The closest conjunction of Venus and Mars actually occurs just 48 hours later, when they both fit within a 30’ field of view on the evening of Sunday, February 21st.



February 21st 01 UT


The Moon, Venus and Mars February 21st at 01:00 UT. (Credit: Starry Night).
The Moon is 2.37 days old and will appear 5 % illuminated during the Friday conjunction, and together, the trio will resemble a skewed emotion smiley face… think ‘:?’. Manage to catch a time exposure of one of the numerous ISS passes near the Mars/Venus conjunction this week and you could nab a unique ‘:/’ alignment!

Venus spends the first half of 2015 as a brilliant dusk object before heading for solar conjunction on August 15th, after which it once again passes into the dawn sky.  2015 is an “opposition-less” in-between year for Mars, as it reaches solar conjunction on the far side of the Sun on June 14th before making its slow comeback in the dawn sky. Expect the Red Planet to reach a favorable opposition next on May 22nd 2016.



tri-conjunction


Getting closer…  Venus and Mars as seen from Venezuela on the evening of February 16th. (Credit and Copyright: Jose Rozada @jmrozada).
Notice that this week’s tri-conjunction occurs very near the equinoctial point where the celestial equator and the plane of the ecliptic meet. This is the position that the Sun will occupy a month from now when the equinox total solar eclipse occurs.

Want more? One evening later on February 21st, the waxing crescent Moon will actually occult the +5.9 magnitude planet Uranus in the dusk sky for eastern North American observers:



Occult 4.0


The path of the February 21st occultation of Uranus by the Moon. Credit: Occult 4.0
This is occultation number 8 in a current cycle of 19 of Uranus by the Moon.  And there’s another pass of the Moon in front of the Hyades on February 25th as it occults the bright star Aldebaran for a second time in 2015 as seen from Scandinavia.



Aldebaran Occ


The path of the February 25th occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon. Credit: Occult 4.0.
Now for the ‘wow’ factor. The Moon lies just over a light second away at 357,000 kilometres distant. This week, Venus sits 1.4 AUs/ 11.6 light minutes away at 217 million kilometres distant, while Mars is 2.2 AUs/ 18.3 light minutes away at 341 million kilometres distant.

And from the surface of Mars, you’d see a brilliant conjunction of -1.3 magnitude Earth and -1.6 magnitude Venus just one degree in separation, with the +2.5 magnitude Moon nearby.



Venus and Earth rising as seen from the surface of Mars.


Venus and Earth rising as seen from the surface of Mars. Credit: Starry Night Education Software.
Perhaps Curiosity will nab this extraterrestrial spectacle, as Earthbound sky watchers gaze back this weekend!



About 

David Dickinson is an Earth science teacher, freelance science writer, retired USAF veteran & backyard astronomer. He currently writes and ponders the universe from Tampa Bay, Florida.

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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Astrophoto: Lovely Crescent Venus by John Chumack

Astrophoto: Lovely Crescent Venus by John Chumack:

A beautiful crescent Venus on May 14, 2012. Credit: John Chumack.
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 Transit of Venus across the Sun. John used a DMK 21AF04 fire-wire Camera, 2x Barlow, & 10″ SCT telescope, and used 950 frames stacked to create this image. Thanks to John for sharing his image; see more of his work at his website, Galactic Images.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.



ESA: Unveiling Venus

ESA: Unveiling Venus:

The featureless face of Venus, as seen by MESSENGER (NASA/Gordan Ugarkovic)
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.



Thursday, April 5, 2012

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

Watch Live Webcast of Venus-Pleiades Conjunction April 4, 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 coverage will begin on Wednesday, April 4th starting at 1:30 PM PDT / 4:30 PM EDT / 20:30 UT. (This was originally scheduled for April 3rd, but was rescheduled due to high humidity at Canary Islands observatory off the coast of Africa.) The broadcast can be watched here, or accessed at Slooh’s homepage or by visiting Slooh’s G+ page, where you will be able to see the panel interact live via G+ Hangouts On Air.
If skies are clear, you can see the conjunction for yourself by looking toward the west in the constellation Taurus, after sunset, using binoculars. If you can get images of the event, we’ll post views of them. Share them on Universe Today’s Flickr page.



Astrophotos from Around the World of the Venus-Pleiades Conjunction

Astrophotos from Around the World of the Venus-Pleiades Conjunction:


Venus at The Seven Sisters, M45 Pleiades on 04-04-2012. Credit and copyright John Chumack.
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 around the world!
The Pleiades, also known at the Seven Sisters, is a beautiful bright blue open star cluster 440 light years from Earth. Only once every eight years does this conjunction take place.


Friday, March 30, 2012

“Tidal Venuses” May Have Been Wrung Out To Dry

“Tidal Venuses” May Have Been Wrung Out To Dry:

Extreme heating from tidal stresses may render a "Tidal Venus" planet inhabitable
Earth-sized exoplanets within a distant star’s habitable zone could still be very much uninhabitable, depending on potential tidal stresses — either past or present — that could have “squeezed out” all the water, leaving behind a bone-dry ball of rock.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction, March 15th, 2012

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction, March 15th, 2012:
The two conjunctions. Image credit: Stellarium
The two conjunctions. Image credit: Stellarium

In case you’re the only person on Earth who hasn’t heard about it yet, Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction on March 15th, 2012, passing within 3° of each other. The two planets have been getting closer and closer in the sky for the last month, and now it’s time to see them side-by-side. Venus is the higher, brighter object, and Jupiter is the lower dimmer one.
Of course, Venus and Jupiter aren’t actually close to one another in the sky. They’re really separated by millions of kilometres. But from our perspective here on Earth, we see the two objects closely lined up. That’s a conjunction.
On March 15th, 2012 at 10:37 UTC, Venus and Jupiter reach 3° distance from one another. That’s approximately 6 times the width of the full Moon.


Astrophotos: Venus and Jupiter Conjunction

Astrophotos: Venus and Jupiter Conjunction:
Astrophotos: Venus and Jupiter Conjunction
Jupiter and Venus. Image Credit Kevin Jung
Though the skies may be a bit cloudy in some parts of the world, it did not prevent our awesome readers from taking a shot of the wonderful view of the conjunction of planets Venus and Jupiter. Here are some amazing photos of the planetary conjunction.
Above is a close-up image of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter as seen by Kevin Jung in West Michigan on March 12, 2012. The image was shot using a Canon 40D DLSR, a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at 200mm, f/5.0. It was a 2.5 second exposure. The camera was just on a tripod. Here’s a link to Kevin’s Flickr page.
More images below!(...)


Monday, February 6, 2012

Astrophoto: Zodiacal Light with Venus and Jupiter

Astrophoto: Zodiacal Light with Venus and Jupiter:

Astrophoto: Zodiacal Light with Venus and Jupiter

Zodiacal Light with Venus and Jupiter

This image of the zodiacal light was taken by Felipe Gallego on January 23, 2012 near the natural park of Sierra Norte de Sevilla in Spain.

Zodiacal light appears as a faint, diffused, triangular, white glow extending up from the vicinity of the Sun along the ecliptic or zodiac. Ideally, zodiacal light can be seen during springtime or autumn, just after sunset and before sunrise.

Felipe used a Canon 5d Mark II camera, with a Samyang 14 mm at f2,8, 25 s of exposure and ISO 5000. The image was processed with Gimp.

Astrophoto: Jupiter and Venus at the Beach by Brendan Alexander

Astrophoto: Jupiter and Venus at the Beach by Brendan Alexander:



Venus and Jupiter at the beach. Credit: Brendan Alexander

Brendan Alexander took this beautiful photo showing the two brightest planets currently in our night skies, over Flacarragh County, Donegal, Ireland. Here are the specs:

Canon 1000D (modded), 18-55mm kit lens (18mm), Fixed Tripod

Exposure: 20sec, ISO 800, F3.5 (two panels)

Brendan took the image on February 1, 2012. Check out his Donegal Skies” Flickr feed.

Monday, October 3, 2011

New Research Finds Venus’ Winds, They Are A-Changin’

New Research Finds Venus’ Winds, They Are A-Changin’:



Image of Venus in ultraviolet light by ESA's Venus Express. (ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA)


Venus, Earth’s hotheaded neighbor, may have more variability in its weather patterns than previously believed. Using infrared data obtained by ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Arizona researchers have found that Venus’ mesosphere and thermosphere are less consistent in temperature than layers closer to its surface.(...)
Read the rest of New Research Finds Venus’ Winds, They Are A-Changin’ (726 words)




NATURE PICTURES & THE UNIVERSE

Astrophoto: Venus Setting by Rick Ellis

Astrophoto: Venus Setting by Rick Ellis:

Astrophoto: Venus Setting by Rick Ellis
Venus Setting. Credit: Rick Ellis



Rick Ellis of Toronto, Canada came up with this multiple-exposure image of Venus setting. The changing position of Venus from the observer’s point of view serves as a proof of the the Earth’s counter-clockwise rotation.

This image was generated from multiple shots captured by Rick using his Canon A460 camera.

“It was not created on a single frame. The camera was locked down on its tripod and the original background photo was taken with Venus in the upper left. Then at exactly 5 minute intervals exposures were taken at ISO 80 for 5 seconds. Twenty seven exposures were made in all and then compiled in Photoshop. The trick then was to

find where Venus was on each successive layer and “punch a hole” very accurately in the main image layer.”

Check out Rick’s website here.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.




NATURE PICTURES & THE UNIVERSE

Monday, August 22, 2011

Astrophoto: The Milky Way and Venus over Andes

Astrophoto: The Milky Way and Venus over Andes:



Astrophoto: The Milky Way and Venus over Andes

The Milky Way and Venus over Andes. Credit: Guillermon Abramson



Guillermo Abramson of Bariloche, Argentina captured this stunning photo of the central region of the Milky Way and Venus over the Andes Mountains on October 24, 2008. Guillermo used a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi camera mounted on a Meade LX10 telescope and took this photo with the following settings: 18 mm, F/3.5, 120 sec, ISO 400.


Can’t get enough of Guillermo Abramson’s photos? You can check out his blog here.


Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Universe Today Flickr group; we select photographs from this group and post them every day. If you don’t want to join Flickr, you can send your images in by email. If you do contribute to the group, or send us photos by email, you’re giving us permission to post them here on Universe Today. To help us out, please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, and/or a little story about it — that would enable us to write a better article about your picture! Make sure you tell us your name, and give us a place we can link to if people want to see more of your work.
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