If you have a clear western view, go out just as the Sun sets and take note of where it is on the horizon. About 30 minutes afterward, carefully scan to the left of where the Sun disappeared (a pair of binoculars would be helpful). You should pick up a twinkling object masquerading as a bright star – the planet Venus.
On June 4th, Venus reached superior conjunction, the point at which it is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. Since then, both it and Earth have been chasing one another around our star. Venus orbits closer to the Sun, so it not only has a smaller path to follow but it also moves faster (on average about 3.2 miles per second faster than Earth). As it slowly catches up to us, Venus gradually moves farther and farther from the Sun in our sky. Appearing only 10 degrees from the Sun in mid-July (the width of your fist at arm’s length), it was still too close to the Sun for us to easily catch a glimpse of it in the bright glow of dusk. With another month having now passed, that separation has doubled. Venus sets about an hour after the Sun now and can finally be spotted by eye just before it, too, sets.
If you have a telescope, you can also witness Venus undergo a dramatic change over the next seven months. Venus currently sports a nearly full phase since we are still nearly on opposite sides of the Sun from one another. In addition, it appears near its smallest size because of the greater distance between us. As it draws closer to Earth, we will not only see Venus wane through the gibbous, quarter, and crescent phases, but the planet will grow larger in telescopes and binoculars. By the second week of January, Venus will reach greatest eastern elongation. In other words, it will be at its farthest point to the east (left) from the Sun, making it visible for a longer period after sunset. It will also show a quarter phase during this period. After that, it quickly dives down toward the Sun, appearing as a lengthening but ever-narrowing crescent. The crescent phase can be extraordinarily beautiful especially when viewed against the colorful glow of dusk, and even a steadied pair of binoculars will show it well. The renown Nashville astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard once remarked that seeing this phase of Venus through a small telescope “made a more profound and pleasing impression” on him than when he first discovered the moon Amalthea orbiting Jupiter in 1892.
Venus will come almost ‘twixt the Earth and Sun on March 22nd when it reaches inferior solar conjunction, leaving our evening sky for almost a year-long hiatus. Early risers can then first spot Venus in the east around the start of April 2025 as it once again takes its place amid the glow of dawn as the Morning Star. To learn more about Venus’ travels through our sky, check out this article from our April-May 2022 newsletter.