Natural phenomenon you have witnessed?

[Peter Mugridge]

Talking of the Moon and Venus, I saw both yesterday evening when the sun was (just) above the horizon. The Moon is to be expected, but Venus is more of a rarity to see in daylight.

It's quite easy to see Venus in the daytime at any time of day as long as it's not too close to the sun and you know exactly where to look.

It's also possible to see Jupiter in daylight when roughly half way between opposition and conjunction once the sun is fairly low in the evening. Saturn as well, although that partly depends on the angle of the rings - it's brighter when they're wide open.

Why is this incidentally? The planets from my understanding cycle through all the zodiacal constellations so Mercury "ought not" to be more easily visible from the southern hemisphere.

I think it's about equal whether Mercury gets good and bad apparitions in each hemisphere, you're right. You'll generally get a good evening apparition followed by a bad morning apparition and vice-versa, with some apparitions in between being of medium difficulty from either hemisphere.

 

[4COR]

I have seen it a few times, perhaps 4 or 5 - invariably on spring evenings.

It is easier in the evening in spring in the northern hemisphere (since the ecliptic is nearer vertical in the northern hemisphere in the spring compared to the autumn), and conversely easier in the morning in the autumn in the north, but the biggest thing is having a decent horizon with no clouds - a good sea horizon on a fine morning/evening is perfect.

It's quite easy to see Venus in the daytime at any time of day as long as it's not too close to the sun and you know exactly where to look.

Indeed - I've seen it at 2pm on a summer afternoon - near greatest eastern elongation is about as easy as it gets, which is cooincidentally slightly before greatest brilliancy - sometimes the issue is allowing your eyes to focus as there's generally nothing suitable nearby (the sun not being suitable...) for them to focus on...

 

[randyrippley]

Some of the more unusual things I've seen
Two exploding bolides, around a year apart, both while driving up the M6 between Preston and Lancaster in Winter.
A rare vertical towering rainbow over the Bowland hills at sunset when driving northwest from Clitheroe towards Newton.
While fishing on the River Yeo in Somerset on an extremely hot airless day - a tiny 2 foot high waterspout slowly spinning its way downstream before collapsing. I can only explain that one as possibly being due to an aircraft vortex - it was Yeovilton air day with a lot of low flying, though none of it within a couple of miles
During the hot summer of 1975 - an airborne invasion of flying migratory Ladybird beetles coming ashore at Weymouth beach and biting anything they landed on. They were especially drawn to yellow clothing and parasols.

 

[nw1]

It's quite easy to see Venus in the daytime at any time of day as long as it's not too close to the sun and you know exactly where to look.

Interesting - I assumed it was only possible when it was close to sunset (or sunrise); certainly all cases in which I've seen it have been within about 15 mins of sunset.

It's also possible to see Jupiter in daylight when roughly half way between opposition and conjunction once the sun is fairly low in the evening. Saturn as well, although that partly depends on the angle of the rings - it's brighter when they're wide open.

Interesting - never knew Jupiter could be seen in daylight.

 

[Harvester]

The Moon has moved into Cancer, and was just above Mars when I looked out 20 minutes ago. In contrast to it‘s brilliance last December at opposition, the Red Planet is rather inconspicuous. Nearby Castor and Pollux appear brighter!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Interesting - never knew Jupiter could be seen in daylight.

You would need to know exactly where it is - try when the moon is close to it then look on subsequent evenings.

There's also a small number of the brightest stars that can be seen immediate after sunset while the sky is still bright if you know exactly where to look - in these cases you can get the bearing by looking slightly earlier each evening from a dusk start.

 

[Magdalia]

Finding Mercury is a bit of a challenge, you only really get two chances a year here, spring evenings and autumn mornings.
Once every 5 years or so is about my best, given weather and hilly terrain.
Easier in the southern hemisphere.

Why is this incidentally? The planets from my understanding cycle through all the zodiacal constellations so Mercury "ought not" to be more easily visible from the southern hemisphere.

I have seen it a few times, perhaps 4 or 5 - invariably on spring evenings.

I think it's about equal whether Mercury gets good and bad apparitions in each hemisphere, you're right. You'll generally get a good evening apparition followed by a bad morning apparition and vice-versa, with some apparitions in between being of medium difficulty from either hemisphere.

It is easier in the evening in spring in the northern hemisphere (since the ecliptic is nearer vertical in the northern hemisphere in the spring compared to the autumn), and conversely easier in the morning in the autumn in the north, but the biggest thing is having a decent horizon with no clouds - a good sea horizon on a fine morning/evening is perfect.

The angle of the ecliptic is the critical factor. When the angle of the ecliptic is near to horizontal than Mercury isn't far above the horizon even when it is a long way from the sun. When the angle of the ecliptic is near to vertical Mercury will be much higher in the sky and thus easier to see.

In the Northern Hemisphere the angle of the ecliptic is nearest to vertical on spring evenings and autumn mornings. In the southern hemisphere it works the same but of course their springs and autumns are calendar wise the other way around.

All of the times that I have seen Mercury have been on spring evenings. Another thing that helps is when Venus is also an evening star. Mercury is then usually between Venus and where the sun went down. I find that about 45 minutes after sunset is usually the best time to look.

 

[Snow1964]

Total eclipse of the sun, West Cornwall August 11th, 1999, at 11.11 a.m. Unfortunately Mother Nature decided to intervene with dark clouds and rain for almost the totality of the eclipse period, including the brief couple of minutes of the total eclipse, but it was still an eerie and awesome experience to have such darkness at such an hour, particularly in summer, and to hear the panic of the birds as a strange rushing wind blew over Mount's Bay from west to east, but gone in a trice.

Managed to get a ferry Newhaven to Dieppe and see that in northern France, sat outside a cafe in a square in a small town few miles from Dieppe, was very eerie.

Next one is 8th April 2024 crossing USA

Nearer home one crossing northern Spain, and western Iceland 12th August 2026

 

[nw1]

Managed to get a ferry Newhaven to Dieppe and see that in northern France, sat outside a cafe in a square in a small town few miles from Dieppe, was very eerie.

Next one is 8th April 2024 crossing USA

Nearer home one crossing northern Spain, and western Iceland 12th August 2026

For the 1999 eclipse I was in Berkshire, near Hungerford, at the time. Very similar day to today basically: a uniform layer of mid-level cloud but no rain.

It was noticeably gloomy for August, but not dark or even twilight-ish: it went from being like midday on a cloudy August day to being like 3pm on a cloudy November or December afternoon, if you get my drift.

The angle of the ecliptic is the critical factor. When the angle of the ecliptic is near to horizontal than Mercury isn't far above the horizon even when it is a long way from the sun. When the angle of the ecliptic is near to vertical Mercury will be much higher in the sky and thus easier to see.

Very true. You can see that now, as the Moon, Venus and Sun form a near-vertical line. The same phenomenon presumably also explains why appearances of Venus in the spring are much more prominent than at other times of year. At the moment, for example, Venus is a long way from the sun and sets long after.

Venus appears to have an 8-year cycle (see edit below). So Venus would also have been prominent in the springs of 2015, 2007, 1999, 1991, 1983, etc.

I do seem to remember 2007 had a spring appearance of Venus, I distinctly remember it emerging from the evening twilight in early January and being visible until the middle of July. I think I vaguely remember the 1991 appearance too.

I also seem to remember a prominent spring appearance in 2009, but a bit earlier in the year, so it was already prominent, but low, in the previous November, and peaked in March. Also remember a 1989 appearance (as I first started getting interested in 1989), but that was later in the year, first appearing around May and peaking in the summer/autumn.

So with an 8-year cycle, this gives appearances at intervals a little over 18 months:

Summer/autumn X+1 (e.g. 1989)
Spring X+3 (e.g. 2023, 2007, 1991)
Winter/early spring X+5 (e.g. 2009)
[presumably there's a fourth one, and maybe even a fifth one, but I can't remember any instances. Presumably it's very low in the sky and not prominent]

where X is a year in the sequence 1980, 1988, 1996, 2004, 2012, etc.

Also seems to indicate that evening appearances of Venus are focused on odd years.

EDIT: I've just checked https://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky, which gives historical maps of the sky. I put in this date in 1975, and every year on an 8-year cycle until 2015. Venus was in almost exactly the same position in Gemini each year. So it looks like the 8-year cycle is indeed present.

I've also verified the existence of the "1989" (X+1) and "2009" (X+5) evening apparations too, again these occur on an 8-year cycle. So following this appearance of Venus, we can presumably expect one in winter/spring 2025.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...it went from being like midday on a cloudy August day to being like 3pm on a cloudy November or December afternoon, if you get my drift.

Broadly similar up in the Peak District, where it had been sunny, but where it was only a ~ 90% eclipse.

 

[Bald Rick]

For the eclipse in ‘99 I was in France, right on the centre line of totality. It got progressively duller for a couple of hours, and then when it went total it was like switching the lights off - from dull evening to night in a few seconds.
Incredible experience.

 

[AM9]

For the eclipse in ‘99 I was in France, right on the centre line of totality. It got progressively duller for a couple of hours, and then when it went total it was like switching the lights off - from dull evening to night in a few seconds.
Incredible experience.

I was in Borehamwood when the 1999 eclipse occurred. The sunlit got progressively weaker giving a 'watery' appearance, the birds were silenced and most dramatic of all, it suddenly got quite cold, from shirt sleeves to jackets back on. I viewed it through a carefully selected CD!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

...and I was above the clouds with an unhindered view from on board Jacqueline Gold's Beech 200...

The full story can be found in the link below:

2000JBAA..110...63M Page 63

( Apologies, moderators - the article is a .pdf and doesn't let me quote from it )

 

[Harvester]

Venus will reach greatest eastern elongation from the sun, in its current apparition, in few hours time. I viewed it with binoculars high in the west at sunset before it became too dazzling, and could make out a half phase disk.
It will reach greatest brilliance on 7th July when showing as a thick waning crescent, and reach inferior conjunction on 13th August.

 

[Magdalia]

Venus will reach greatest eastern elongation from the sun, in its current apparition, in few hours time. I viewed it with binoculars high in the west at sunset before it became too dazzling, and could make out a half phase disk.
It will reach greatest brilliance on 7th July when showing as a thick waning crescent, and reach inferior conjunction on 13th August.

Thanks for that.

Venus is still very high and very bright here 90 minutes after sunset.

 

[Harvester]

Thanks for that.

Venus is still very high and very bright here 90 minutes after sunset.

Set time for Venus tonight will be around 3.5 hours after the Sun sets. With being almost at greatest elongation, Venus was roughly 45 degrees above the Western horizon this evening at sunset.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In recent days I've been repeatedly picking out Venus at around 16.00 with the naked eye.

This is the ideal time of the apparition to try this - once it passes elongation, it will draw in towards the sun at an amazing speed.

 

[Harvester]

In recent days I've been repeatedly picking out Venus at around 16.00 with the naked eye.

This is the ideal time of the apparition to try this - once it passes elongation, it will draw in towards the sun at an amazing speed.

Considering it has taken nearly 8 months from superior conjunction, to reach greatest eastern elongation, it will move more quickly (35 days to greatest brilliance) and then 36 more days to inferior conjunction. Then 36 days later it will reach greatest brilliance again (as a morning star).

 

[Magdalia]

Last night I was a bit late seeing the full moon very low in the southern sky, going out for a look at about 2300. Although the moon had risen more than an hour previously it was barely above the horizon and my source says that it was "up" for less than 7 hours in total. By comparison the shortest day here the sun is still "up" for nearly 8 hours.

Is the moon at or near to an extreme on the plane of its orbit at present?

 

[4COR]

Yes - it's currently around declination -28 (whereas the sun at midwinter in the northern hemisphere is at declination -23) - declination is the astronomical equivalent of latitude - 0 degress is the celestial equator, corresonding to the projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere. The orbit of the moon is inclined at ~5 degrees to the ecliptic (ie to the Earth's orbit around the sun), and so this is about as far south as it can get and hence the short period between moonrise and moonset in the Northern hemisphere.

 

[Magdalia]

Yes - it's currently around declination -28 (whereas the sun at midwinter in the northern hemisphere is at declination -23) - declination is the astronomical equivalent of latitude - 0 degress is the celestial equator, corresonding to the projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere. The orbit of the moon is inclined at ~5 degrees to the ecliptic (ie to the Earth's orbit around the sun), and so this is about as far south as it can get and hence the short period between moonrise and moonset in the Northern hemisphere.

Thanks. I thought that might be the explanation, though I didn't have the vocabulary to describe it, or the knowledge of how to corroborate what I suspected. I guess that midsummer, when the full moon is low anyway, makes it more noticeable?

Here in the Fens we are at 52-53N latitude. So in effect the track of the moon last night was how a winter sun might look 5 degrees further north? 57-58N is the Highlands of Scotland and that makes me think of the very low sun on my one midwinter visit there.

And would the Shetland Isles, at >60N, not got to have seen the full moon at all?

 

[4COR]

Here in the Fens we are at 52-53N latitude. So in effect the track of the moon last night was how a winter sun might look 5 degrees further north? 57-58N is the Highlands of Scotland and that makes me think of the very low sun on my one midwinter visit there.

Pretty much yes (OK - the angles might be a bit off, but it's a reasonable approximation.)

And would the Shetland Isles, at >60N, not got to have seen the full moon at all?

Anything North of ~62N wouldn't have seen the moon at all - in Lerwick (60.1N) it would just have peaked over a perfect horizon - but then only by less than 2 degrees.

 

[Harvester]

Just to add, that the next four Full Moons are going to be Supermoons. The largest and brightest will occur in the early hours of 31st August, only nine hours after perigee. This will also be a Blue Moon (although it won’t be blue in colour).

 

[nw1]

Last night I was a bit late seeing the full moon very low in the southern sky, going out for a look at about 2300. Although the moon had risen more than an hour previously it was barely above the horizon and my source says that it was "up" for less than 7 hours in total. By comparison the shortest day here the sun is still "up" for nearly 8 hours.

Is the moon at or near to an extreme on the plane of its orbit at present?

Tonight, even down here in the far south, the moon is up for just 6 hours - two hours shorter than the sun at the winter solstice.

Considering it has taken nearly 8 months from superior conjunction, to reach greatest eastern elongation, it will move more quickly (35 days to greatest brilliance) and then 36 more days to inferior conjunction. Then 36 days later it will reach greatest brilliance again (as a morning star).

Just looking at the cycles of Venus and it appears it repeats every 1.6 years, which would tie in with an exact 8 year cycle.

So the next evening appearance will be at the end of 2024, and into 2025. This will be the same point in the cycle as 2008/9, which I do remember: I recall seeing it low in the southwestern sky in late November and high above the horizon during March, before rapidly disappearing.

 

[yorksrob]

Just to add, that the next four Full Moons are going to be Supermoons. The largest and brightest will occur in the early hours of 31st August, only nine hours after perigee. This will also be a Blue Moon (although it won’t be blue in colour).

Saw a quite spectacular moon off of Hastings seafront about two nights ago.

 

[Acey]

Brocken spectre from the Crib Goch ridge on Mt Snowdon( or Yr Wyddfa if you prefer )

 

[Harvester]

Just looking at the cycles of Venus and it appears it repeats every 1.6 years, which would tie in with an exact 8 year cycle.

So the next evening appearance will be at the end of 2024, and into 2025. This will be the same point in the cycle as 2008/9, which I do remember: I recall seeing it low in the southwestern sky in late November and high above the horizon during March, before rapidly disappearing.

Yes Venus does 13 orbits of the sun, in almost the same time that earth does 8. Hence every eight years Venus will appear at the same orbital point. This was best illustrated by the last two transits which occurred eight years apart almost to the day (8th June 2004 and 6th June 2012). Unfortunately the orbital nodes will not line up at inferior conjunction again until December 2117 and December 2125 to create another pair of transits.

 

[Magdalia]

Yes Venus does 13 orbits of the sun, in almost the same time that earth does 8.

Two adjacent numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence!

 

[Howardh]

July 7 2023 is when Venus will be at it's brightest this year @ - 4.7. However that leaves just an hour to view it before Venus-set so I'm thinking with it being so low down in the sky it might not be as impressive as it has been recently? Anyhow, just hoe the clouds over Lancashire break for that hour!!

Venus at greatest brightness

9 July 2023: Venus reaches its greatest brightness in the evening sky. – In-The-Sky.org.

in-the-sky.org

28 Apr 2023	–	Venus at highest altitude in evening sky
04 Jun 2023	–	Venus at dichotomy
04 Jun 2023	–	Venus at greatest elongation east
09 Jul 2023	–	Venus at greatest brightness

 

[Jimini]

Saw a quite spectacular moon off of Hastings seafront about two nights ago.

This is what it looked like in Greece. Pretty impressive sight!