After having gone to the trouble of alerting local radio and TV to the event yesterday morning I felt kind of dumb when I forgot all about it and was only brought back to reality when I walked outside after a meeting as saw the two dominating the SW sky. Very impressive. I look forward to seeing the pictures I'm sure some of the folk on this list got. BTW, because I alerted media I made it a point to watch all 4 newscasts last night (ever try to watch 3 TVs all at once?). Anyone here happen to catch the funny during 5's coverage? Chortle... :) On 28 Feb 2009, at 00:12, Chuck Hards wrote:
That was a very close pairing tonight; very beautiful and soul- stirring. I watched Venus set behind a distant roof-line. It was interesting in that it didn't wink-out immediately, like a star does during a lunar occultation. It took a couple of seconds to dim and finally disappear; proof that it subtends a measurable angle and not a point source. As Venus approaches superior conjunction, it will swell to a minute of arc in apparent diameter- this is large enough for sharp-eyed individuals to detect the crescent shape. Use a neutral-density (or "moon") filter to dim the dazzling brilliance, and try to see the disk of another planet without a telescope.