I can remember the annular solar eclipse on Saturday 31st May 2003, which displayed ‘a ring of fire’ but only if observed in the far north of Scotland. I observed it in perfect conditions from the northeast coast of England, at around 5 o’clock in the morning just after sunrise. The sun’s disk was about 95% covered, appearing red and horn shaped as it rose above the sea, even casting a red shadow on the water. I was really fortunate to have a clear eastern horizon that morning, but unfortunately had no camera with me.There is an annular/ring of fire solar eclipse in progress over chunks of the USA right now.
Pity we only get to see part of Venus, when almost full-on it's getting behind the sun, probably at it's brightest when we see 2/3 of it but then I assume it would be low in our sky and this the atmosphere block a lot of the light?Venus is shining like a lantern in the SE at the moment. Arcturus to the left is pale in comparison!
Actually Venus is at greatest brilliance when showing as a thickish crescent. At that point it’s position is halfway between greatest eastern elongation (evening apparition) or greatest western elongation (morning apparition), and inferior conjunction (when in line between the Earth and the Sun).Pity we only get to see part of Venus, when almost full-on it's getting behind the sun, probably at it's brightest when we see 2/3 of it but then I assume it would be low in our sky and this the atmosphere block a lot of the light?
Probably temperature inversion.One afternoon a few years ago I was up at Mow Cop, on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border, when fog came drifting over the Cheshire Plain, until it was like I was looking down on a sea of fog.View attachment 146646View attachment 146647View attachment 146648View attachment 146649View attachment 146650
Venus is very, very, easy in full daylight at the moment provided you know where exactly to look. Oh... and if the sky is not covered in clouds!!
Yes, but the moon was nowhere in sight when I saw it - and I do make a point of looking for it whenever it's a clear day.As I said above I saw it in daylight last week because it was right next to the moon.
But more generally - I'm waiting for it to appear as an evening star again, as it's easier to see.
Yes, but the moon was nowhere in sight when I saw it - and I do make a point of looking for it whenever it's a clear day.
I do agree it's a much easier object in the evening as it's a time when we're all still active, but for an evening appearance - try seeing if you can find it early afternoon; once you've located it it's quite easy to find it again on subsequent days. Weather permitting, of course!!
Meteor watching requires patience, time to let your eyes fully adapt to the dark and is generally better after midnight; if the weather is clear the Geminid meteor shower ( best nights will be 13th / 14th and 14th / 15th December this year ) would be an excellent opportunity to try - but do make sure you are wrapped up very warm. Don't try to look at the radiant; you'll do better looking at an angle away from it and looking at Orion is probably the easiest way of getting the right distance from the radiant.Meteors I wish to see but never do. Seeing the planets on the other hand is easy when they come out
You don't say where you are, but if you're in the south of England a very good place that isn't far from any facilities and accommodation would be West Wight but outside Yarmouth itself; try the Totland Bay / Freshwater areas. Fort Victoria Country Park would be a very good location to try from.At some point, I do want to go somewhere that has little light pollution and look at the stars as well as take a photo of the Milky Way.
I was hoping that you would report the latest sunrise too! Here in the Fens sunrise has been 0809 I think for the last 3 days.The earliest possible sunset of the year (15:47 hrs) this afternoon at latitude 53 degrees north (Notts).