A little test... no cheating!

[WalterP]

Hello all.

 

Over the past couple of days we've had fine weather, here in England.  This means that the planet Venus has been shining very brightly in the early evening skies. Just look towards where the sun has set and you can't miss it.  Next to the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky.

 

Now for the test.

 

Without cheating (looking online or in a book) can you explain why Venus appears brighter when its at its furthest away from us and dimmest when its at its closest?

 

Have fun! 

 

 

Walter.

[TABA]

I honestly did know this off the top of my head...

 

Because Venus orbits between the Earth and the Sun, we see phases, just like we see phases of the Moon.  When Venus is on the same side of the Sun as the Earth, its day side is mostly facing away from us, so we only see a crescent Venus, or maybe a quarter-phase.  When Venus is in the furthest part of its orbit from us, it's on the other side of the Sun, so we see its sunlit side, a "full Venus".  Venus is very reflective because it is completely covered in clouds.  So a distant "full" Venus is brighter than a nearby "crescent" Venus.

[WalterP]

TABA,

 

I must reserve judgment on your reply until you post an image of the top of your head. 

 

What I would need to see is such an image with the answer to my question written in reverse, so that you could hold a mirror up and read the words the right way round.

 

Then I will be satisfied that you did know the answer off the top of your head.

 

Tongue firmly in cheek,

 

Walter.

5a6a0f26127d7ca2c00689cb.webp

[Joshpantera]

4 hours ago, TABA said:

I honestly did know this off the top of my head...

 

Because Venus orbits between the Earth and the Sun, we see phases, just like we see phases of the Moon.  When Venus is on the same side of the Sun as the Earth, its day side is mostly facing away from us, so we only see a crescent Venus, or maybe a quarter-phase.  When Venus is in the furthest part of its orbit from us, it's on the other side of the Sun, so we see its sunlit side, a "full Venus".  Venus is very reflective because it is completely covered in clouds.  So a distant "full" Venus is brighter than a nearby "crescent" Venus.

 

Campbell used to lecture about how the cresent of islam is not the moon, it's the cresent of Venus. And that other evidence about venus being held sacred points to that. It's one tid bit I always remembered from those lectures. 

[TABA]

40 minutes ago, Joshpantera said:

 

Campbell used to lecture about how the cresent of islam is not the moon, it's the cresent of Venus. And that other evidence about venus being held sacred points to that. It's one tid bit I always remembered from those lectures. 

 

Some informative reading for your isolation...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_and_crescent

[LeiaBryant]

5 hours ago, TABA said:

I honestly did know this off the top of my head...

 

Because Venus orbits between the Earth and the Sun, we see phases, just like we see phases of the Moon.  When Venus is on the same side of the Sun as the Earth, its day side is mostly facing away from us, so we only see a crescent Venus, or maybe a quarter-phase.  When Venus is in the furthest part of its orbit from us, it's on the other side of the Sun, so we see its sunlit side, a "full Venus".  Venus is very reflective because it is completely covered in clouds.  So a distant "full" Venus is brighter than a nearby "crescent" Venus.

So Muslims are using Venus as a symbol? Are they aware they are worshipping my Goddess Innana sort of. Venus is one of Her symbols.

[pantheory]

18 hours ago, WalterP said:

Hello all.

 

Over the past couple of days we've had fine weather, here in England.  This means that the planet Venus has been shining very brightly in the early evening skies. Just look towards where the sun has set and you can't miss it.  Next to the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky.

 

Now for the test.

 

Without cheating (looking online or in a book) can you explain why Venus appears brighter when its at its furthest away from us and dimmest when its at its closest?

 

Have fun! 

 

 

Walter.

 

Cool test question Walter. I won't spoil the test for others but will give a clue to those people answering, by asking a clue question. When is the moon at its brightest?

 

Sorry; I thought I was the first poster, but I'm not even the second or third to answer. Others have answered the question correctly already.

Oh well!

[midniterider]

I noticed it out there in the sky a few days ago. Really bright.

[WalterP]

I honestly did know this off the top of my head...

 

Because Venus orbits between the Earth and the Sun, we see phases, just like we see phases of the Moon.  When Venus is on the same side of the Sun as the Earth, its day side is mostly facing away from us, so we only see a crescent Venus, or maybe a quarter-phase.  When Venus is in the furthest part of its orbit from us, it's on the other side of the Sun, so we see its sunlit side, a "full Venus".  Venus is very reflective because it is completely covered in clouds.  So a distant "full" Venus is brighter than a nearby "crescent" Venus.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ok folks, I can officially declare that the top of TABA's head has the correct answer.  (Fanfare!)

 

Here's a helpful illustration.

 

 

 

 

 

TABA's 'full Venus' is # 1, when it's furthest away from us and his 'crescent Venus' is when it's closest.  The maximum area of illuminated surface happens at 1, not at 15.  When Venus is closest to us we see most of its un-illuminated dark side.

 

Kudos to TABA!

 

Thank you,

 

Walter.

[older]

Here's an article that popped up this morning about Venus and it's orbit. Interesting:

 

https://earthsky.org/tonight/venus-greatest-evening-elongation-on-march-24?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

[WalterP]

Thanks, older.

 

As you say, an interesting article.

 

Cheers,

 

Walter.

[pantheory]

Walter,

 

Quotes from links below:

 

"Venus presents a thin crescent in telescopic views as it comes around to the near side between the Earth and the Sun and presents its new phase when it is between the Earth and the Sun.  The full cycle from new to full to new again takes 584 days (the time it takes Venus to overtake the Earth in its orbit)."

 

Every 584 days Venus disappears from the naked eye at night in the cities. Like a new moon this is the phase when Venus is between the Earth and the sun so we can only see a faint ring of uniform light around Venus, observable with only a relatively small magnification such as binoculars on a clear night. This phase lasts 4-5 nights. Away from city lights maybe you can see this phase if one has good vision and knows where to look depending on your latitude.

 

During this "new Venus" phase,  Venus can pass in front of the sun from our perspective, very slightly diminishing the sun's light and heat. This doesn't happen very often, only about once every 75 times that Venus passes Earth on its inner obit. Transit events happen only twice every 121.5 years, 8 years apart.

 

"The last transit of Venus was on the 5th  and 6th of June 2012, and was the last Venus transit of the 21st century; the prior transit took place on the 8th of June 2004. The previous pair of transits were in December 1874 and December 1882. The next transits of Venus will take place on the 10th & 11th of December 2117 and the 8th of December 2125."

 

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02C-tdiNpVTJHrhmRJfpUzrwzorog%3A1585190271183&ei=fxV8XuXSCuyy0PEP4pyAgAo&q=total+phases+of+venus&oq=total+phases+of+venus&gs_l=psy-ab.12..33i299l3.37612.46334..49440...1.2..0.213.2206.12j8j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....10..0i71j35i362i39j35i39j0i273j0i131j0i67j0j0i22i30j33i22i29i30.0irpHg-Fq9I&ved=0ahUKEwiljo_4jbfoAhVsGTQIHWIOAKAQ4dUDCAo

 

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk03pporoAyzpa7vJERqMwwQOJwbjqA%3A1585283151800&source=hp&ei=T4B9Xt-kLpiw0PEPsPmX-Ao&q=when+did+venus+last+transit+the+sun&oq=when+did+venus+last+transit+the+sun&gs_l=psy-ab.12..33i299.1804.17695..21675...1.0..1.375.4368.13j18j3j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......35i39j0i273j0i67j0j0i131j0i20i263j0i22i30j0i333j33i22i29i30j33i160.zWEe-7IPWMA&ved=0ahUKEwifiIT557noAhUYGDQIHbD8Ba8Q4dUDCAs

 

 

[Voice]

It's like playing pool on a pool table, but with planetary bodies and light. Objects such as Venus, the moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars appear bright when they reflect Sol at just the right angles toward us. Imagine how Terra looks from out there at just the right angles. Atmosphere, liquid water, blue. Blue with that one orbiting white orb. With standard binocs you can usually see 3, 4, 5 of Jupiter's moons. Probably the water ice ones. Jupiter and Saturn are visible at dawn these weeks. I miss Mercury. It's been years since I've seen Mercury. Often near Venus, Mercury. Morning, evening. Inner planets.