Jupiter and Venus

[Graeme]

Good catch Chris!

Monday night is a good forecast for me.

Regards

Graeme

PS. You still have snow at the end of March!!!

[ChrisGreaves]

PS. You still have snow at the end of March!!!

Yes.

It falls from the clouds that deny us a view of the heavens, and if that fall is deemed insufficient it blows across the frozen ground from somewhere else to boost local levels. ( I am starting to suspect that there is a PhD somewhere on "Dipole attraction between urban and rural frozen aqueous deposits at the molecular level", but I only scraped through with a weak BSc., so don't look at me.)

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27th April my first year here. Snow drifts have not completely melted.
Note the snow on roofs which suggest that we have had a recent snowfall. The data report shows about 30cm of snow fell on the 24-25th of April.
That the snow lies on the south side of the ice-cream shop and the house beyond it suggests that the snow came comme l'habitude from the north.
Note too the red reflector poles on the wheelchair ramp, to guide anyone foolish enough to think that the Town Council offices will be open after a snowfall.

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This image is from May 4th, and does NOT represent a recent snowfall but the last teeny-tiny remnant of the winter's snowfall. I suspect that if I elected to waste my Sunday searching the data reports I could find 25cm in May in some year.

We had snow the night before last, and first thing Saturday morning I had to go out and clear the path down my driveway so the neighbours don't panic and think I've had a heart attack and failed to rise from my snug bed. It is the people of Bonavista that I love; not the climate/seasons/weather/rain/wind/etc.

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I took this photo not five minutes ago from my chair in the study. It shows the snow drifted against my white picket fence. At least, I think it is painted white; it might just be more snow.

When did Kent last have a snowfall? 8065 BC?

Cheers, Chris
P.S. Some people less fortunate than I (i.e. who do not live in Bonavista) get a consolation prize instead. C.

[Graeme]

Kent had snowfall this year but I think you win the snow contest Chris!

Anyway, back to astronomy! Mercury might be a bit hopeful because it sets soon after sunset, you will need a cloud free sky looking west out over the sea to see it. If you try it with binoculars, wait till the sun has properly set or you will go blind!

Venus will be a good pointer to Uranus, the bright planet will be just 5° below and to the right of the dimmer one. Then at 21:15 BST for us Brits, the pair will be joined by the ISS. Then on Wednesday and Thursday Venus passes Uranus at a distance of 1.2°, so in the same binocular view. You should just about be able to spot Uranus' green/cyan hue.

Mars, Betelgeuse and Aldebaran form a nice triangle of red dots all week.

[ChrisGreaves]

Mercury might be a bit hopeful because it sets soon after sunset, you will need a cloud free sky looking west out over the sea to see it. If you try it with binoculars, wait till the sun has properly set or you will go blind!

Over twenty years ago I saw [Venus and] Mercury with my naked eye from a balcony in Etobicoke. The first night I used binoculars to locate Mercury, noted which building (miles away over by the 401 highway) it was, then got it naked. The next night I just used the same building.

Venus will be a good pointer to Uranus, the bright planet will be just 5° below and to the right of the dimmer one. Then at 21:15 BST for us Brits, the pair will be joined by the ISS. Then on Wednesday and Thursday Venus passes Uranus at a distance of 1.2°, so in the same binocular view. You should just about be able to spot Uranus' green/cyan hue. Mars, Betelgeuse and Aldebaran form a nice triangle of red dots all week.

To respond to this would take an awful lot of words and probably get me banned, or worse, suspended from Eileen's lounge, so I'll use a PrtScr image as the initial installment of a thousand words ...
Best of luck in the coming week ...

[GeoffW]

... then got it naked.

A picture of this this would probably get you banned, or worse, suspended from Eileen's lounge

[ChrisGreaves]

A picture of this this would probably get you banned, or worse, suspended from Eileen's lounge

I was trying to work out whether "eyes naked" would come across as a childish "I's naked" and just lost my grip on things.
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

I clocked earlier the location of the sun just before it set and got excited about being able to see Mercury and Jupiter setting together after sunset. Then I put the snooker on. I glanced out of the window just now, saw Venus shining brightly and thought oh *** I've missed the setting conjunction! Oh well, the snooker's good. Ding Junhui is beating Mark Allen 7 - 3.

[ChrisGreaves]

I clocked earlier the location of the sun just before it set and got excited about being able to see Mercury and Jupiter setting together after sunset. ... I glanced out of the window just now, saw Venus shining brightly and thought oh *** I've missed the setting conjunction!

I take it that all this means that your current auto-mechanical setup is running and is trustworthy.
That is, that you can tap on a few keys and be confident that your scope/camera will be pointing in the correct direction at the right time and that the shutter will go "click" several times, leaving you with little to do except browse the 'proofs" over next morning's coffee?
Cheers, Chris
P.S. I am almost finished my first coffee, so where are your photos?
(signed) "Cloudy again" of Bonavista.

[Graeme]

I take it that all this means that your current auto-mechanical setup is running and is trustworthy.

No, I was just looking out of the bedroom window!

I did get to see Uranus a bit later with my binoculars, so that was a bit of a treat! Not sure about any colour though, West is in the lightdome that sits above London from my location.