Moon & Mars

[Bahnhof Strasse]

As I couldn't see the moon at all it must have been Mars.

Cos Venus is in the east, at dawn it is in the light bit of sky, Mars in the west is in the dark bit.

I am every bit as amazed as you that we can see these things, would love to see Saturn’s rings, afaik you can see them with a fairly basic telescope but probably need darker skies than you get in town.

 

[Detroit City]

just now in the east sky i saw cresent moon with venus just below it, very pretty

 

[Numbers]

Cos Venus is in the east, at dawn it is in the light bit of sky, Mars in the west is in the dark bit.

I am every bit as amazed as you that we can see these things, would love to see Saturn’s rings, afaik you can see them with a fairly basic telescope but probably need darker skies than you get in town.

I feel the same, just knowing it’s Mars or Venus is incredible.

Altho’ I live in East London I’m surprised at how much I can see with the naked eye.

I also use the SkyView app.

 

[sojourner]

tony.c Mars is bright gold/orange, that's the giveaway. It usually looks like a very squashed egg to me too, but I think that's the angle the sun hits it.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Cos Venus is in the east, at dawn it is in the light bit of sky, Mars in the west is in the dark bit.

I am every bit as amazed as you that we can see these things, would love to see Saturn’s rings, afaik you can see them with a fairly basic telescope but probably need darker skies than you get in town.

Yeah, and Jupiter's moons. If Galileo could do it... But same problem.

 

[2hats]

Very large binoculars or a small telescope (around 8-10cm aperture) will reveal Saturn's rings as separate around the planet (inclination of Saturn permitting - the rings appear edge on roughly every 15 years). Any smaller and you might detect them as a bulge either side of the planet. Go a little larger to a half-decent amateur beginner's telescope (around 25-30cm, say) and you will start to be rewarded with some detail under a reasonably dark and stable sky (able to discern the some of the lanes of rings - Cassini Division, shading, ring shadow).

 

[Signal 11]

would love to see Saturn’s rings, afaik you can see them with a fairly basic telescope but probably need darker skies than you get in town.

The light pollution doesn't matter for the bright planets and the Moon.

 

[tony.c]

tony.c Mars is bright gold/orange, that's the giveaway. It usually looks like a very squashed egg to me too, but I think that's the angle the sun hits it.

I've heard it has a pink/reddish tinge, but I'm red/green colour blind so wouldn't be able to make that out.

 

[sojourner]

I've heard it has a pink/reddish tinge, but I'm red/green colour blind so wouldn't be able to make that out.

Ah, that's a bit of a bugger then.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Well this thread aged well

And will next appear in 2035.

 

[Numbers]

Weather is a bit shite at the moment, hope it clears a bit.

 

[Jay Park]

Building manager has locked the door to the roof, even though it’s a fire door. So I’m out.

 

[tony.c]

I woke at 0440 and although the sky seemed to have a cloud haze (I couldn't see any stars), I could see Mars again. It was quite bright, so would have been really bright without the haze.
As sojourner said it did look a bit like a poached egg and I did think it had a pink tinge.

 

[Numbers]

No joy here
Too cloudy before going to bed + still cloudy when I got up at 1am. Gutted.

 

[sojourner]

I woke at 0440 and although the sky seemed to have a cloud haze (I couldn't see any stars), I could see Mars again. It was quite bright, so would have been really bright without the haze.
As sojourner said it did look a bit like a poached egg and I did think it had a pink tinge.

Fab - so glad you spotted it tony.c It was quite cloudy round our way too, but they cleared for a few minutes and we got to see it too

 

[sojourner]

Lovely bright Venus this morning with a crescent of the moon opposite

 

[Numbers]

Mars is the only object I can see in the sky right now, looking SE.