Venus at 2.2%

[N1 (Mirko)]

Quick capture of our sister planet last Saturday in a clear and steady Central Otago sky after the fog had burned off.

Elongation was 12.25°, Altitude 34°

6" Synta Dob, ASI715, ZWO L, hand-tracked on sticky bearings

[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

Very nice, Mirko. My favourite view of Venus, both visually and imaged.

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Hi Mirko,
Excellent capture!
Joe

[MortonH]

Awesome.

[astronobob (Bob)]

Yes I 4th that, nice blue tinge about it also,, great catch Mirko ...

[N1 (Mirko)]

Thanks gentlemen. I agree the view is pretty special at this phase.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

That's really nice. I imagine it's also technically difficult; firstly locating it and then hand tracking! Well done.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

That's really nice. I imagine it's also technically difficult; firstly locating it and then hand tracking! Well done.

Thanks David, yes both were a little harder than with my own 8" GSO which is very smooth and has a much better finder. This 6" Dob was borrowed, with a slightly out-of focus finder and me having to constantly fight stiction in both axes, but I've gotten pretty good at that over the years. The Skywatchers, while having excellent optics, leave something to be desired in their manual mounts. Despite all that, it was a nice little impromptu 'sidewalk astronomy' session with maybe 15 locals/visitors also getting a look, for which we shaded the front end of the scope.

[Dave882 (David)]

Wow very impressive indeed. Not an easy capture at all but you’ve pulled it off brilliantly. Well done!