I have a bone to pick with Venus.

[Suzy]

Last night, we had an unusually cloudless night here in Brissy (till 10pm anyway). Couldn't wait to point the scope for my first look at Venus. It looked so magnificent- large and bright, completely overwhelming the starless twilight sky. I quickly set up before it disappeared, the whole while saying to myself in excitement "can't wait, this is so exciting, yeah!" Pointed scope, looked into eyepiece, and within one second (if that), three phone books stacked upon my stool under my butt, and the rest of me, nearly hit the preverbial dirt, amongst a flurry of expletive deletives. It took out my eye and it hurt. It was ridiculously bright. I had a penetrating sting for a good 5 mts. It is still a wee bit tender 8 hours later.

I did have my Pentax 10mm barlowed down to 5mm. This is a new ep - and I know this is supposed to be one heck of fantastic ep - but I don't think it should be that good! At the risk of sounding stupid, am I not supposed to look at Venus without some sort of filter, or is that my eyes are particularly sensitive? And no, I wasn't looking at the sun. I could see myself walking into that one.:P I've now developed my first hate relationship with an object in the sky. I didn't think that could be possible. :screwy:

[astro744]

The classic recommended filter for Venus is the #47 Violet but this filter is quite dense and good aperture 8-10" min is needed for a brighter view. However, Venus is quite safe to view without a filter.

Any good quality neutral density or Moon filter will also help. Enjoy!

[Liz]

:lol::lol: fun and games Suzy!!!
Usually no need for filter for Venus but then am not sure if I have checked it out in a 5mm EP. Sure you werent focused on a street light!! ;):eyepop:
Sounds like EP is working well. ;)
Hope skies stay clear, ours are clear at moment too. :D

[cybereye]

Suzy,

I'm sorry to hear of your experience while looking at Venus.

Fortunately, I've never had any eye troubles when looking at Venus. I would think the amount of light you'd get in your eye would be the same regardless of the eyepiece focal length. Certainly the aperture would make a difference but I've looked at it through my 8" newt with no problems.

If you're worried that you've done some damage a visit to your local optometrist might give you piece of mind. Don't give up on Venus, the phases are wonderful!:)

Mario

[Suzy]

Have to admit, I didn't see that one coming! :lol:

If you'll don't use filters, to view Venus what size ep would you recommend for a 6" F/8 dob? Clearly the 5mm was too much. Or do I need to wait for the sky to darken more (though It'd be getting way too low by then I think). I wonder if the glow of the sky (it was 6pm) affected the already brightness of Venus?:shrug:

[Liz]

I think that Tony admitted to doing that in that ' d'oh moments' thread. :lol:
I think it is a matter of trying a few sized EPs to see what is best at the time. How was the view with my Pentax without the barlow? ;)
Venus is reasonably low, so a bit more atmosphere to peer through, that may distort/brighten things a bit.

[renormalised]

I never look at objects as bright as Venus without some sort of filter....usually the good ol' neutral density filter:).

It hurts, doesn't it:):P

[Suzy]

Liz, you can track my progress with this ep on my thread "Best 5mm ep under $200." Last night was my first real decent go at it (due to clouds all this time.) I will do a follow up on the ep on that thread very soon. I love it!




Phew! Good to see someone else has similar experience… was starting to wonder if I was going crazy. Yes it hurt. :sad:
I’ve concluded you show Saturn to people you really like, and Venus to people you don't! :lol:

[renormalised]

That sort of experience happens from time to time, despite being far from a newbie:):P

Nah...you show the Moon (minus the filter) to people you don't like...and make sure it's full:):)

[bmitchell82]

interesting with venus, from my understanding the more magnification you punch at it the dimmer it gets, a 6" is definately not bright enough to "hurt your eyes", ive shown heaps of people including my 6yo son venus with my 10" f4.7 newt which caputures a bucketload of light. your eyes must be super super sensitive.

On the up side, :D you shouldn't have problems viewing the flame nebula or something like that :D

[renormalised]

Normally, you would think so...the bigger the mag the dimmer the view, but sometimes with the right contrast and such, the extra mag doesn't dim it enough.

Some peeps have more sensitive eyes than others:)

[gbeal]

I reckon it is better during daylight to be honest, as long as you can locate it. BUT........... be careful you don't inadvertently line up the sun.
Gary

[Robh]

I agree. For any object which has a visual surface area, when you double the magnification, the observed size of the object will double but the area will increase by a factor of 2^2 =4. The collected light for the object will be spread over a much larger area and therefore its surface brightness will decrease.
Pushing up the power has a larger affect on a smaller scope. Hence, the practical limit magnification of 50x per inch for apertures. For scopes of 6 inches or more, seeing conditions tend to be the restricting factor.

Regards, Rob.

[Suzy]

Rob, I'm a bit confused with what you are saying. Is the object brighter being a smaller 6" scope using 5mm (240 X mag on my scope)? Because you were also agreeing with Brenden as well that magnification shouldn't matter. Sorry.. can you explain for me?

All I know is, the next day (yesterday) after that incident, I woke up with my eye red and a bit swollen and I was sensitive to bright light. Today it's starting to feel better. I just know one thing, I have no desire to back and re visit this planet for quite some time.

[Screwdriverone]

Hey Suzy,

OUCH!, Happens to me on the moon with the light bucket I have.....

Never on Venus though....

Anyway, Women are from Venus, so you shouldn't hold a grudge I suppose.... ;) See what us Men have to put up with?

Your beauty is dazzling to the eye!!! :)

Cheers

Chris

[DiamondDust]

Suzy I'm concerned for your eye. I know it's better today, but I think you should rest it for a few days, no peering through scopes or reading:sadeyes:

[Suzy]

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[renormalised]

I was just thinking, Suzy, what colour was the light that dazzled you?? Did you see any greenish tinge to it??

If so, someone may have shone a laser at you.

Why I asked, is that even though Venus can be bright, it's not as dazzling as the Moon (obviously) and I've never come across anyone that's been affected as bad as yourself. On the Moon, yes, but not on Venus. Not quite like that.

[Robh]

Suzy,

Increasing the power will decrease the viewed surface brightness. This is much more noticeable in smaller scopes e.g. 3 or 4 inches. As the scope diameter increases it is less noticeable. In a larger scope (say 10 inch), the brightness may still be decent at high magnifications (>250) but the seeing conditions usually prevent good viewing. I would personally use some kind of filter on Venus to reduce glare.

Regards, Rob

[Liz]

That is strange Suzy - even looking at a Full Moon, it doesnt cause sore red, swollon eyes next day. :shrug:
I'm with Ingrid - rest it for a couple of days. :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Thanks everyone for your concerns. I cannot look at the full moon either as much as i've tried, my eye won't tolerate it. So I guess my eye is very sensitive. No scoping! and i've used my lap top yesterday and today to a bare minimum, as the glare from it was getting to me. I'm feeling much better tonight and tomorrow I should be back to normal. Though the glare at the moment off my laptop is still getting to me just a bit.

To renomorlased: No, I didn't notice anything green. But it all happened so quick. As soon as I put my eye to eye piece, i copped a piercing ray of light and moved away from the eyepiece straight away. I wonder if the sun's rays (it was setting in the horizon, as Venus itself was pretty low - about 30 deg - was around 6pm) had anything to do with producing that effect on Venus. Guess I'll never know.

[Robh]

Just a general caution when using telescopes on Mercury or Venus while the Sun is still in the sky.

You may have the scope pointed at the planet but sunlight can still enter your scope. Sunlight on the primary mirror is extremely dangerous.
See diagram ...

Set up your scope in such a way the Sun will be blocked from view as it sets (e.g. behind a wall) but the planet is still visible.
Better still, wait till the Sun sets.

Regards, Rob

[Chillie]

Suzy,

Can you turn down the brightness on your computer screen? On my Toshiba NB100 netbook, the glare is very bright. I usually turn the brightness right down by hitting Fn + F6. Your computer contols might be different though.

[renormalised]

Just read Rob's reply....it's quite possible that you could've got a stray ray from the Sun enter your scope. Now, that would hurt....a lot. I would go to the doc's and get it seen to, if that is the case. Just to be on the safe side. It sounds like some of the after effects are still lingering and by now they should've settled down. You probably won't need anything more than special eyedrops, but you can't be too careful!!!.

[torana68]

ooooooo sunburn of the eye ..... see your doctor, do they have any up there?

[RobF]

Its not worth the risk if the sun is up - best to get the shadow of a tree or building between you and its disk if you do need/want to be observing before it sets.

Sounds like this is most likely scenario Suzy - Venus just doesn't pack enough punch to hurt you as you say. Hope you're ok now - you have many worried.

Definitely worth making up with Venus too some time to watch the phases.

[cybereye]

Yes we do, they just haven't been paid for a while...:)

[Jules76]

This sounds like the likely cause, but I have a doubt. It get's pretty dark early up here in Brisbane, in fact I went out just a little while around 5:30pm and the Sun was pretty much gone. Suzy said this happened around 6pm, and I can tell you now it's dark outside and it isn't even 6pm.

To look yourself, go into Stellarium (or your favourite program) set to Brisbane and look around 6pm. It's pretty much set.

Like I said it sounds like the cause, but the Sun appears to be directly out of the way when Suzy said it happended.

:question:

[M54]

Hi Suzy,

I agree that you should have a check at the Doc's.
You can't be too careful with your eyes.

Hope you're feeling better.

[Suzy]

Hi Julian, it was twilight, - the sun definitely wasn't up, was setting. It wasn't dark - was still bright enough that I could see very clearly what I was doing and the sky had the glow in the horizon - you know when it's just setting. That being said, I said it was "around 6", as you know here in Brisbane, very quickly it goes from being somewhat brightish to dark. It was within this very quick in between period from light and dark. I just wondered if a ray as it was setting - as it's close to Venus may have anything to do with it. But I'm thinking not. I just think I have incredibly sensitive eyes. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I wondered if it was the sky glow (from the sun setting), the sun wasn't up. I'll just put it down to light sensitivity.

[renormalised]

You've been eating too many carrots:):P

[torana68]

I also have a sore eye now.... a branch on a tree got me and its the suns fault (the lack of sun that is)..

[Suzy]

Oh my goodness! I hope you're going to be okay. Uh oh.. hope this isn't turning into an eperdemic. :( Did it poke you badly? What are you doing about it? No Scoping for you until you're better, you hear!

[torana68]

.... Its ok, I have a spare .. it wasnt nice for a couple of hours though. :(

[tonybarry]

Haven't looked at Venus, but I can't handle the moon through an eyepiece, regardless of the phase or the magnification. Just too bright.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[fairway68]

The only thing that could such a flash is sunlight. Could it have been an Iridium flash or a flash reflection off an aircraft's windscreen?
In an earlier life I flew fighter aircraft and the flash from a windscreen could be seen at 20 or more miles( Nautical, that is) I have seen the iridium overhead here and it can be very bright. would not like to see it through the eyepiece. Please see your GP.