Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Venus at Peak of Brightness

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the me-and-my-shadow dept.

Jotii writes "The planet Venus is right now at its peak of brightness. Until the third of December, you will actually be able to see shadows cast by Venus. From the article: "Venus is reaching its peak brightness for 2005 and casting its very best shadows right now." More from the article: 'Difficult, yes, but worth the effort, he says. After all, how many people have seen themselves silhouetted by the light of another planet? If you'd like to try, this is the week. Your attempt must come before Dec. 3rd. After that, the crescent moon will join Venus in the evening sky, and any shadows you see then will be moon shadows.'"

7 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. Grr... by BrainInAJar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Too bad I live in the north west... I never get to see anything in the sky that isn't water.

  2. Pesky light pollution by ArwynH · · Score: 2, Insightful

    FTA mentions it briefly, but due to light pollution most of us won't be able to do this easily. If you live anywhere near a big city chances are the brightest thing in the sky will be Plasma screen adverts bouncing off it.

    Pity really, it would be a pointless thing to do, but at least you could boast about it in your old age...

  3. Bright enough to see in the day also by Colonel+Blimp · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you know where to look and you have a clear sky, you can see Venus in the day time. Best time to look is after noon, 3-4 hours before sunset. Its pretty odd to see something like that in the clear blue sky.

    1. Re:Bright enough to see in the day also by Kelson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I am so going to have to try this tomorrow.

      Way back in high school, I used to have a "zero period" class that started at 7:00am. I'd start walking to school early enough that Venus was still quite visible, and I'd try to keep it in view as long as possible as the sky lightened.

  4. Now that would make a cool photo... by El+Micko · · Score: 2, Funny

    Would I need to use my flash to get a picture of the shadow? ;-)

    1. Re:Now that would make a cool photo... by Kelson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Heh. I know this is a joke, but a few years ago I watched a lunar eclipse from my balcony. At one point one of my neighbors came out and started taking pictures of the moon -- with the flash. One can just mean you forgot to turn it off, but two or more?

      It reminded me of the people you occasionally see at Disneyland taking flash photos in Star Tours, not realizing they're likely to get a washed-out white screen instead of a picture of the Death Star.

  5. Re:From where? by Colonel+Blimp · · Score: 3, Informative
    it can be seen anywhere.

    In Thailand, look just after sunset in the west sky, its the very bright star, you can't miss it. It sets about 90 minutes after sunset.

    Even the smog of Bangkok can't cloak it!