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STARS VISIBLE IN M45 (THE PLEIADES)
Alcyone (η Tau)	2.85	Star Name	x.x
Alcyone (η Tau)	2.85	Star Name	x.x

Naked Eye: Crescent Venus Redux

Date: 10-Jan-2006 @ 12:50p EST

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Magnitude/Size: —4.1/63"
Alt./Az.: 32.5° / 188.0°
Elongation: 7.0° East
Illumination/Phase: 0.7% / 170.4°

Click image to access U.S. Naval Observatory's ‘Apparent Disk of Solar System Object’. The image was created using the USNO site for the time of the attempt. Click the following for a full list of ‘Data Services’ from the USNO.

Conditions for viewing Venus in full daylight, naked eye or with binoculars, were less than ideal. Haze & thin clouds were the culprits.

I arrived at Bryant Park at 12:35p trying to spot Venus with binoculars first and was making very little headway. Glare from sunlight illuminating the haze was the main problem.

After around 10 minutes I moved to a spot where I could determine the azimuth of the Sun. At the position where the Sun was spotted Venus would arrive at that point around 14 minutes later and approximately 6 degrees higher.

After a few minutes the Sun would be safely hidden behind a building reducing the glare somewhat. It took around 5 minutes to pick up Venus' thin crescent shining weakly through haze and thin clouds.

Looking at the image above produced at the U.S.N.O. site I can see why a typically bright Venus seemed somewhat subdued.

I wonder what the effective surface brightness of this crescent was compared to the surface brightness of Venus near opposition where it was a relatively easy object less that 4° from the Sun in a pair of 10×70's?

Relocating Venus with the 8.5×42 binoculars after taking some notes wasn't easy. A minute or two was spent glassing the area before recovering it again. Last time I spotted Venus was around 12:55p.

Viewing the planet naked eye did not happen.

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Manhattan North: Naked Eye View

Thirty-nine Stars

Overcast conditions with rain has predominated lately so it was good to see clear skies on Wednesday morning.

On cold northerly winds, around 1 o'clock in the morning, the clouds cleared and I spent some time looking towards the north to see how dim a star I could glimpse.

The image above is approximately 60° x 80°.

The ‘bright’ star between the Guardians of the Pole and the handle of the Big Dipper is Thuban (α Draconis). The star a bit above it was the dimmest star seen. This star (10 Draconis) is magnitude 4.6.

Alcor, a companion to Mizar in the bend of the Big Dipper's handle, was picked up but is too close to the brighter star to make out.