Free and Open to the Public

Part 1 of 2
Visually Observing the Planet Venus - 2020 Eastern Elongation


By Gary T. Nowak

Venus is the brightest planet in the sky and the closest planet to Earth. Yet some planet watchers have never turned their telescopes toward the planet. The planet has developed a "bad" reputation of sorts of not being a good object for study with a small telescope.
Venus’s almost blinding brilliance and thick, seemingly featureless cloud cover make this easy to believe. Thus Venus is sometimes given the nickname of "The Featureless Orb" or "The Blank Cloudy Planet." 
This 2 part talk on observing Venus would like to dispel the myth of "Venus the Featureless Orb". The planet is not an easy object to observe, however, persistent observations with a good planetary telescope and good sky conditions will yield some interesting details. As Venus changes phases, there are certain anomalies that can sometimes be observed. The planet will have a favorable evening showing along with the Moon in late winter / spring of 2020.

Part I of the talk:
There will be a quick overview of the upcoming favorable Moon apparition. Then the following points about Venus will be discussed:
● Introduction to the Planet Venus
● Orbital Parameters / Phases of Venus
● Amateur Telescopes for Visual Observations of Venus 
● Filters for Visually Observing Venus
● Venus as an Optical Tester of Telescopes
● Observations of the Planet: Phases, Terminator, and Cusp Features

Free and Open to the Public

Part 2 of 2
Visually Observing the Planet Venus - 2020 Eastern Elongation

By Gary T. Nowak

Venus is the brightest planet in the sky and the closest planet to Earth. Yet some planet watchers have never turned their telescopes toward the planet. The planet has developed a "bad" reputation of sorts of not being a good object for study with a small telescope.

Venus’s almost blinding brilliance and thick, seemingly featureless cloud cover make this easy to believe. Thus Venus is sometimes given the nickname of "The Featureless Orb" or "The Blank Cloudy Planet."

This 2 part talk on observing Venus would like to dispel the myth of "Venus the Featureless Orb". The planet is not an easy object to observe, however, persistent observations with a good planetary telescope and good sky conditions will yield some interesting details. As Venus changes phases, there are certain anomalies that can sometimes be observed. The planet will have a favorable evening showing along with the Moon in late winter / spring of 2020.

Part II of the talk:

● More Observations of the Planet Venus: Cloud Markings
● Crescent Phase Anomalies
● Cloud Optical Illusions
● Unaided Eye Observations - Venus Effects
● Venus Illusions in Our Atmosphere (continued on next page)
● Venus as "The Imposter UFO"
● Summary / Conclusion