Venus on Sleepy Telescope

Venus: A Razor-Thin Crescent

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Just three days later and even closer to inferior conjunction, Venus has thinned to a razor-sharp crescent, its largest apparent size of the entire apparition. The cusps extend further than half the disk’s circumference, a striking geometry unique to the inferior planets.

Captured as a luminance video sequence, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Thin Crescent

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:52:00 +0000

As Venus swings between Earth and the Sun ahead of its March 2025 inferior conjunction, its illuminated crescent thins dramatically while its apparent disk grows larger. Only a sliver of the dayside remains lit in this capture.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: The Start of a New Apparition

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:44:00 +0000

This capture marks the start of a new apparition for Venus, following its 2024 superior conjunction on the far side of the Sun. The disk is small and gibbous, around three-quarters illuminated, with much growth ahead as Venus approaches Earth again over the following months.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Thin Morning Crescent

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 03:55:00 +0000

Shot shortly after Venus’s inferior conjunction in August 2023, this capture shows a thin crescent with a large apparent disk, as Venus re-emerged into the morning sky on the near side of its orbit to Earth.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Clear Crescent

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 19:52:00 +0000

Two months later, Venus has thinned into a clear crescent phase, illuminated across roughly a quarter of its disk. The apparent size has grown substantially as the planet closes in on Earth ahead of its 2023 inferior conjunction.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus Approaching Dichotomy

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:34:00 +0000

Venus here is still gibbous, more than half lit, as it closes in on Earth during its 2023 evening apparition. Its lit portion shrinks week by week toward dichotomy, the half-lit phase it reached in early June 2023, while its apparent disk keeps growing.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.