Digital Camera in Bryant Park

On the 14th of March I was practicing with my digital camera (Lumix FZ-30 w/12x optical zoom) in Bryant Park near the N.Y. Public Library. The park's center lawn is being resodded. An annual event.

While looking for birds to photograph, mainly sparrows and pigeons, I spotted an odd shape walking along the south side of the 'lawn'. After a minute the bird showed itself. Surprise. This was the first time I've seen this bird in Bryant Park.

Below is a photo of the Bryant Park 'lawn' followed by two images of the American Woodcock seen there.

Click on photos for an 800 pixel wide image.

Details for Bryant Park photo:
F/2.8 @ 1/1000 second (focal length 35mm)


Details for American Woodcock photo (above):
F/3.7 @ 1/40 second (focal length 420mm)


Details for American Woodcock photo (above):
F/3.7 @ 1/30 second (focal length 420mm)

• Click here to see a cropped section from the original 8 mega-pixel image. The backfield of the bird is in motion so only the head & bill is in focus.

• Click on image of Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 for a review of the camera on 'Digital Professional Review'.

Daylight Venus Two Days in a Row

Date: 26-Jan-2006 @ 12:30p EST
Magnitude/Size: —4.4 / 57.5"
Alt./Az. (Venus): 28.6° / 209.6°
Elongation: 20.7° West
Illumination/Phase: 6.2% / 151.1°
Alt./Az. (Sun): 30.4° / 185.9°

Conditions for viewing Venus in daylight today were exceptional. It was cold again and the skies were blue and cloudless. Needless to say no one was there in Bryant Park viewing Venus post inferior conjunction while the Sun was up!

Click image for U.S. Naval Observatory's ‘Apparent Disk of Solar System Object’. The image was created for the time of the sighting. Click here for a full list of ‘Data Services’ from the USNO.

Venus is now west of the Sun. My last sighting of Venus was when it was 7° east of Sol — pre-inferior conjunction.

The recent sighting was made with 8.5x42 binoculars. After spotting it in the bins I found it naked eye. The optically unaided view was relatively easy. The planet was steadily seen without the difficulties I was having when Venus was only 0.7% illuminated.

My attempt to find it first, without binoculars, was frustrated by mentally swapping the elevation of Venus with the Sun's altitude.

Inferior conjunction (i.c.) occurred on the 13th of January 2006. Next i.c. happens on August 17th 2007. At the next i.c. Venus' elevation will be close to 55° as it crosses the meridian. This is approximately 25° higher than the recent pass.

Maybe attempts to see the crescent in August next year will be more fruitful.

Addendum: On the 27th of January the skies were clear again so I went out to get a quick glimpse of Venus. While walking along Madison Ave. I happened to look up to the place I thought Venus should be and there it was! This was around 12:10pm. Venus was 30° high. The altitude of the Sun was 31°.

Naked Eye: Crescent Venus Redux

Date: 10-Jan-2006 @ 12:50p EST
Magnitude/Size: —4.1 / 63"
Alt./Az. (Venus): 32.5° / 188.0°
Elongation: 7.0° East
Illumination/Phase: 0.7% / 170.4°
Alt./Az. (Sun): 26.4° / 192.0°

Click image for U.S. Naval Observatory's ‘Apparent Disk of Solar System Object’. The image was created for the time of the sighting. Click here for a full list of ‘Data Services’ from the USNO.

Conditions for viewing Venus in full daylight, naked eye or with binoculars, were less than ideal. High haze and thin clouds were getting in the way.

At 12:35p I arrived at Bryant Park looking to spot Venus in binoculars and was making little headway. Glare from sunlight illuminating the surrounding haze was a problem.

After 10 minutes I moved to a spot where I could determine the azimuth of the Sun. Where the Sun was spotted Venus would arrive above the same point 14 minutes later and approximately 6 degrees higher. This would help pinpoint where Venus should be.

A location was picked so that the Sun, after a few minutes, would be safely tucked away behind a building reducing the glare near the planet's location. It took around 5 minutes to finally see Venus' thin crescent shining weakly through haze and thin clouds.

Looking at the image above produced at the USNO site I can see why a typically brilliant Venus seemed somewhat subdued. This and the haze combined to make this attempt more difficult than usual. This was no six second sighting!

Question: What is the surface brightness of a crescent this size compared to the surface brightness of a gibbous Venus near opposition where it was a relatively easy object (less that 4° from the Sun) in a pair of 10×70's?

Relocating Venus with the 8.5×42 binoculars after taking some notes wasn't easy even though I knew the exact position. A minute or two was spent glassing the area before recovering it again. The last time Venus was spotted was around 12:55p.

Viewing the planet naked eye was attempted but without success.

Naked Eye Attempt: Crescent Venus

Click image for U.S. Naval Observatory's ‘Apparent Disk of Solar System Object’. The image was created for the time of the sighting. Click here for a full list of ‘Data Services’ from the USNO.

On Tuesday (27-Dec) during lunch break I attempted to see if Venus' crescent would be visible naked eye. It's close to 55 arc seconds across! A few minutes were spent searching. It was found but it was a few degrees higher than expected. This goes to show how critical it is to be looking in the right spot.

Seeing Venus in full daylight is not as difficult as you would think. My latest sightings were made as Venus transited the meridian (azimuth = 180° — due south). Viewing Venus when it is at its highest point during the day may make or break sighting the crescent.

The attempt was made around 1:40pm. The crescent was not spotted and I would like to meet the person that can distinguish Venus' crescent naked eye. This would seem to require a rare level of visual acuity or one may need to view Venus when it is higher than a mere 30+ degrees above the horizon. This would place the planet above the haze.

Click the image below to view a chart of the Pleiades along with a depiction of the relative size of Venus compared to the distance of Pleiades members Pleione and Atlas — separation 5'04" (304 arc seconds). This distance is equivalent to stacking Venus five and a half times end to end. With Venus at nearly 55 arc seconds this works out to ~302 arc seconds.