Spark and Perl go looking

How Venus looks up close

• 

  I shall just pop down for a quick look.

• 

  You shall not.

• 

  Why not?

• 

  Because you do not want to. It is hotter than an oven there.
  Everywhere.
  All the time.
  Day and night.

• 

  Then the night side must be a good deal cooler.

• 

  Night is just as hot.

• 

  …The air carries it all the way round.
  There is nowhere on the whole planet to stand and cool off.

• 

  Nowhere. That is the trick of it.

• 

  So is there nowhere to stand at all?

• 

  There is ground everywhere.

• 

  …Rock, then. Solid rock, under all of that.
  I could stand on it. I just could not last a minute.

• 

  Rock, and hot enough to melt lead.
  And sulphuric acid rains there as well.
  That is why no machine has ever lasted long down there.

• 

  But it is the prettiest light in my whole sky!

• 

  Yes.
  Plenty of things are pretty from a long way off.

• 

  Can we see Venus from home?

• 

  Easily — the brightest thing after the Moon, in the evening or before dawn.
  You can see it from anywhere in the world — but not every night. Sometimes it is hiding in the light of the Sun.
  Where to find Venus, and when

• What the shading meansClose

  Where the Earth is clear, it climbs high in the sky. The darker it gets, the lower it stays. Where it is black, it never comes up. No shading at all: it does not matter where you live.

• 

  What do I need to see Venus?

• 

  You can see it with just your eyes.
  Binoculars with 10× magnification show it, if you rest them on a fence or a wall.
  You will see a little curved shape, like a tiny moon.
  A 150 mm telescope is what shows it properly. This picture is about 200× — which is what that telescope gives on a good night.
  At that magnification it drifts out of view while you watch.

Space

Put the planets in size orderPut the planets in orderJump the solar systemCould you stand on a planet or moon?Eyes, binoculars, or telescope?Which one does not belong?

Read onGo and look