Finally have a clear night

[Matthew]

Some high haze but a good view of the crescent moon, Venus next to it, Jupiter up and off to the left. Above the eastern horizon is Saturn.

 

[mtuomi]

Good view of the Jupiters moons too. Sharp eye can spot the 4 big ones even on a 7x50 binocular.

 

[frfly172]

You should be up flying.

 

[MAKG1]

Good view of the Jupiters moons too. Sharp eye can spot the 4 big ones even on a 7x50 binocular.

The hard part is stabilizing the binoculars. It takes very little optics to see Galilean moons. Some people claim they can resolve them naked eye. It's certainly close to resolvable.

A camera on a tripod is enough to make it out. Then you take another shot an hour or two later, and you can see they moved. Io completes an orbit in only 1.7 days.

If you know where to look, you can spot Venus in daytime. Your eye will naturally filter it out unless you focus right on it, much like spotting distant lighted traffic in daytime. It can be seen in crescent phase most easily during the day. Always observe from within shadow for safety, both for you and whatever equipment.

 

[Matthew]

With my old 7x35 Bushnells it's easy to see the Galilean moons. With my 10x50 Nikons, that extra 15mm makes a big difference. I think people are surprised that you really don't need much to see those moons.

I generally use the thumb stabilization trick, but it's hard to describe: Palms together, about 3-4 inches apart, fingers up, thumbs pointing straight back at you. Now bend your thumbtips straight up. Bring those thumb first knuckles back against your face, below your eyes and above the sides of your mouth. Your thumbtips will rest on the front part of your cheekbones and your hands will sort of end up forming a cup for holding the binoculars. It takes a little practice, but it's a pretty easy way to hold binoculars steady.

By the way, check out the Google Skymap app. I have it on my Android tablet, I don't know if it works on iThings.

 

[mtuomi]

Spotting Venus daytime is actually really easy when you've done it once. It's been too long since I was more into astronomy (enter a list of excuses here.)

I just bought a Sony A7S to do some nighttime photography. Maybe I'll catch the old bug.

Speaking of planets, I observed Pluto when it was still a planet. Still one of the coolest things I've ever seen, yet it's something hardly anyone understands why it's so cool

 

[kgruber]

The hard part is stabilizing the binoculars.

That is the easy part.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-10x30-IS-Image-Stabilized-Binoculars-for-hunting-/320619761456

 

[azure]

If you know where to look, you can spot Venus in daytime. Your eye will naturally filter it out unless you focus right on it, much like spotting distant lighted traffic in daytime. It can be seen in crescent phase most easily during the day. Always observe from within shadow for safety, both for you and whatever equipment.

Good info. To add to what you said: Venus as an "evening star" is most favorably situated for evening viewing during late winter and spring, such as back in 2012 in the months before the transit that was publicized everywhere. This is because it is east of the Sun in the sky when it's an evening star, and since the motion of the Earth around the Sun causes the Sun and planets to seem to move eastward among the stars, that means Venus follows a similar path to that of the Sun a few months in the future. Since the Sun is moving higher in the sky during late winter and spring, Venus will be higher in the sky than the Sun as well. The reverse is true for Venus as a morning star. When Venus is a morning star, it is best seen during late summer and fall months.

How easy it is to see Venus during the daytime depends in part on how bright it is, and on how high it is in the sky. How bright it is, in turn, is a balancing act between how close it is to the Earth, and how much of its sunlit side is turned towards us, i.e. on its "phase". Unfortunately the closer it is to us, the less of its sunlight side is facing us. As an evening star, Venus achieves maximum brilliance about 5 weeks after its maximum angular elongation from the Sun. This year, maximum elongation comes on June 6. So you'd expect early-mid July to be the likeliest time to see Venus during the daylight. But it will also be lower in the southern sky at this time, roughly matching the Sun's position several months in the future. That means that light from Venus will have to pass through more atmosphere to reach us, dimming it slightly. On the bright side, tree branches or other features on the ground might make it easier to spot.

I managed to see Venus in broad daylight (mid-afternoon) several times in 2012. So far no luck this year. Venus had a conjunction with the crescent moon last night which would have helped to spot it, but it was too cloudy here. Maybe tonight.

 

[Matthew]

Here's what it'll look like from my place tonight at 10pm, clouds or no:

 

[Matthew]

Just for fun, here's what Jupiter and its moons looked like last night at 10pm.

Shows what a difference 24 hrs can make.