What Astronomy eyepiece should I be using to look at Venus?

Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 9:28 pm

Robert Asked:

I recently bought a telescope and I have been spending a lot of time reading about astronomy eyepiece and I have also spent a good amount of time observing. I am in California and as most of you know Venus has been visible for a while now, and I have been observing it. But I must say I am a little disappointed at what am doing. I have an 8" Schmidt Cassegrain and with a 13 mm plossl eyepiece Venus appears very very small. I was thinking with this scope I would be able to see something like Venus much better than that. Do I need to get a different astronomy eyepiece like a 5 or 6mm? By the way I even used my 2X Barlow with my 13 mm and it still seemed "unimpressive." What am I doing, and thanks again for helping

Reply:

A barlowed 13mm in your scope is actually just right for viewing Venus. Venus is not a very interesting object as far as surface details (or lack thereof). The interesting part of observing Venus is to note how it changes phases over time. If you look at it today you'll notice that it's just a little fatter than Propecia pill whithout prescription half-full. Over the next couple months, it will grow in apparant size to more than double what it is now, but wane to a crescent shape. Make a habit of observing it maybe once a week and note it's changing appearance and how large it seems to get in a month or two.