I have a bone to pick with Venus.

Suzy · #1 06-05-2010, 02:51 AM

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.

I've now developed my first hate relationship with an object in the sky. I didn't think that could be possible.

astro744 · #2 06-05-2010, 03:59 AM

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 · #3 06-05-2010, 05:50 AM

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!!

Sounds like EP is working well.

Hope skies stay clear, ours are clear at moment too.

cybereye (Mario) · #4 06-05-2010, 06:41 AM

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 · #5 06-05-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz

Sure you werent focused on a street light!!

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

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?

Liz · #6 06-05-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzy

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

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?

I think that Tony admitted to doing that in that ' d'oh moments' thread.

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 (Carl) · #7 06-05-2010, 10:17 AM

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

Suzy · #8 06-05-2010, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz

How was the view with my Pentax without the barlow?

.

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!

Quote:

Originally Posted by renormalised

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

. At high powers, even though you're getting the same amount of light coming through the ep as you would with a larger ep, the effect of a much smaller FoV magnifies the effect of the light intensity.

It hurts, doesn't it

Phew! Good to see someone else has similar experience… was starting to wonder if I was going crazy. Yes it hurt.

I’ve concluded you show Saturn to people you really like, and Venus to people you don't!

renormalised (Carl) · #9 06-05-2010, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

I’ve concluded you show Saturn to people you really like, and Venus to people you don't!

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

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

bmitchell82 (Brendan) · #10 06-05-2010, 03:38 PM

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,

you shouldn't have problems viewing the flame nebula or something like that

renormalised (Carl) · #11 06-05-2010, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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...

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 · #12 06-05-2010, 06:16 PM

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 (Rob) · #13 06-05-2010, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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", ...

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 · #14 07-05-2010, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robh

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.

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 (Chris) · #15 07-05-2010, 10:00 AM

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 (Ingrid) · #16 07-05-2010, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzy

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.

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

Suzy · #17 07-05-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

renormalised (Carl) · #18 07-05-2010, 10:14 AM

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 (Rob) · #19 07-05-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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?

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 · #20 07-05-2010, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzy

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.

That is strange Suzy - even looking at a Full Moon, it doesnt cause sore red, swollon eyes next day.

I'm with Ingrid - rest it for a couple of days.