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Venus , a satellite nominate after the Roman goddess of love , will befittingly be at its brilliant best on Valentine ’s Day ( Feb. 14 ) this twelvemonth .
presently predominate supreme in the post - sunset night sky , Venusis living up to its sobriquet as the " eventide star . " Although it ’s always the brightest satellite in the Nox sky when seeable — 2nd only tothe sunand moon in brightness — it reaches a magnitude of -4.9 , its greatest genius , in mid - February . The planet wo n’t appear this bright in the evening sky again until September 2026 , according toEarthSky .
Venus will be at its brightest in mid-February.
Venus get through its highest point in the even sky on Jan. 10 and will sink into the Sunday ’s blaze on March 22 , with its brightest evening coming into court coming midway between those two extreme .
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The visibleness and brightness of Venus are the result of where it orbits the sun in thesolar system . As the second planet from the Dominicus , Venus always sits interior to Earth and thus has phase similar to the moon ’s , as see from our major planet . As Venus gets closer to Earth — as it is doing mighty now — it shrinks to a crescent . Despite being just 27 % illuminated on Feb. 14 , its close proximity to Earth at the metre will give us our bright position of the major planet all year . By March 1 , Venus will be just 14 % lit — so now is a great metre to see Venus through abackyard telescopeor pair ofgood skywatching field glasses .
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Venus ' noteworthy brightness pass off not only because it ’s catch close to Earth . It ’s also comparatively heavy ( only a few hundred miles smaller than Earth in diameter ) , and itscloud layers are highly reflective .
bask the convenient post - sunset views of Venus this Valentine ’s Day , because from then on , the planet ’s brightness will wane as it shrivel to an ever - slimmer crescent . Come March , Venus will be tricky to see in the post - sunset sky . After expire through the sun ’s spotlight in late March , the planet will emerge into the predawn sky and gain its greatest morning sky brilliance on April 27 .
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