The Ashen Light of Venus: A century of observations by McEwen and Moore

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

This paper is a catalogue and analysis of the Ashen Light sightings from two remarkably long series of Venus observations held in the BAA Mercury & Venus Section archives spanning 1892 to 1999. The records comprise overlapping series of visual records by the first two Directors of the Section, Henry McEwen and Patrick Moore. The Ashen Light was seen during 25 of the 56 adequately-observed elongations. By analysing the results in terms of the eight-year 'cycle' of Venus elongations we demonstrate that the Ashen Light's visibility does not simply depend upon terrestrial viewing conditions: those elongations that permitted Venus to be viewed at reasonable altitude against a dark sky were not the only occasions when the Light was well seen. At times the phenomenon can become especially conspicuous, as in 1953 and 1956 (when it was visible semi-continuously for more than a month), and in 1895, 1935, 1940, 1957, 1980 and 1988 (where there were fewer good sightings). There also exist long intervals where, despite excellent conditions and observational coverage, the Ashen Light has remained remarkably obscure.

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