Say goodnight to Venus
August 13th 2007 01:38
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Say goodnight to Venus as evening cycle ends on August 19th.Venus descends below our horizon and becomes the “morning Star”
Venus will not be visible in the southern hemisphere as the "evening star" for another 11 months.
When Venus first rises after inferior conjunction, that is when it was first spotted in the morning sky, called heliacal rising because it is rising with the sun, was the most important position of Venus rising in the morning and was especially important to Mayan culture.
After rising, Venus will reach its greatest brilliancy then it greatest elongation west, moving quickly (in backwards motion) away from the Sun. After that it will remain visible for about 260 days in the morning sky until it reaches superior conjunction.
At this point Venus is on the opposite side of the Sun as we view it from Earth. It becomes dim, until it dips back under the horizon, only to appear on the opposite side of the sun an average of 50 days later. It then rises as an evening star again and remains in the night sky about 260 days until it goes through its eastern elongation point and greatest brilliancy before arriving at Inferior Conjunction again.
On the 22 of August 2007 the planet Mercury makes its way into the evening sky but only for a brief period. Mercury is difficult planet to see because of its relatively short orbit around the Sun make it very elusive but if you have the time now that the weather is warming up take a moment shortly after sunset you may be surprised.
Venus will not be visible in the southern hemisphere as the "evening star" for another 11 months.
When Venus first rises after inferior conjunction, that is when it was first spotted in the morning sky, called heliacal rising because it is rising with the sun, was the most important position of Venus rising in the morning and was especially important to Mayan culture.
After rising, Venus will reach its greatest brilliancy then it greatest elongation west, moving quickly (in backwards motion) away from the Sun. After that it will remain visible for about 260 days in the morning sky until it reaches superior conjunction.
At this point Venus is on the opposite side of the Sun as we view it from Earth. It becomes dim, until it dips back under the horizon, only to appear on the opposite side of the sun an average of 50 days later. It then rises as an evening star again and remains in the night sky about 260 days until it goes through its eastern elongation point and greatest brilliancy before arriving at Inferior Conjunction again.
On the 22 of August 2007 the planet Mercury makes its way into the evening sky but only for a brief period. Mercury is difficult planet to see because of its relatively short orbit around the Sun make it very elusive but if you have the time now that the weather is warming up take a moment shortly after sunset you may be surprised.
Early Image taken by Mariner 10 NASA 1974
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