Not the Venus I Expected ;-)

I finally managed to get the scope out and glimpse at Venus!

With my day off, I could spend some time during the early evening from 8p.m. onwards keeping vigil and scanning the north-western sky. I set up the equipment 15 minutes earlier and was all eager to put Venus in my scope sights. When I finally did, it was a little bit of disappointment mixed with some awe whenever seeing a new planet for the first time. :-)

Venus was a little dim and half of it was shrouded in shadow. It looked like a piece of 'guli' (marble), albeit smaller, that seemed to hang mysteriously on the night sky. There wasn't much surface details and it was quite a work to focus it properly to get the best details in spite of the blurrynness. This is probably due to the gases and clouds that cover the planet most of the time. Then again it could also be that my scope is still not powerful enough to get a good focus. Still, it was with great appreciation that I could at last get Venus onto the C6's sight. I though the planet looked a little lonely and forlorn there which do not give justice to the famous name which usually conjures a more livelier and exciting expectation. :-D

The Moon was also up as it waxes towards full that is expected next week. Saturn was just about two fists away upwards from it. So, after Venus dropped off from view and went under as it was blocked by the buildings (was at Sea Avenue church area), I spend the rest of the evening accompanying these two. I used the moon filter to lessen the glare a little, to then see the shadows on the surface of the moon which heightened the contrast and depth of the craters which the pockmarked Moon displayed. Saturn was its usual grand self. :-) Never fails to impress me. The rings continue to take a large portion of attention and the moons that are barely visible, sort of, tickle the corner of my eyes.

When I packed up at around 10 p.m. it was just as well because the stray clouds started to waltz in and made viewing a washout :-P