As far as I know, the problem with viewing venus is that it is so close to the sun that it never gets very high in the sky without daylight appearing. Anything in space is best viewed high in the sky, so there is the least amount of atmosphere distorting the view, and in cold weather and high altitudes for less distortion. Then you want to view it when it is physically close to earth in its orbit, but that would mean it is casting a shadow and may be hard to see. Taking all that into consideration, it still takes a good quality large scope (minimum 4-6" diameter) with a high magnification lens to clearly see a planet. Then, the problem becomes getting enough contrast to see anything other than a bright ball. Our eyes are the best chance of seeing such detail and contrast because cameras and display screens have a low dynamic range, meaning there's little difference between light and dark.
Jupiter when it is closest to the earth, if that happens during the winter, is the best one to look at, but I still struggle to make out any details with my 4" diameter telescope. The mirror is getting cloudy on it, and the highest magnification lens doesn't provide as clear of an image as the lower magnification lenses; a problem even microscopes have.
I just found this video. He comments on using a filter, which he doesn't have, to get better details. I think this is a good representation of what one can expect from a big-ish telescope using a camera. If I'm correct, he's just viewing IR with that filter, so no color image and I don't think IR focuses very sharp.
https://youtu.be/d49TPvlwAtU?t=154
Topic: % Confidence in Earth's Shape (Read 89542 times)