Venus will reach half phase in its 2168–2169 evening apparition. It will be shining brightly at mag -4.4.
From Los Angeles , this apparition will not be one of the most prominent but prominent, reaching a peak altitude of 32° above the horizon at sunset on 31 Dec 2168.
2168–2169 evening apparition of Venus
| 24 Apr 2168 | – | Venus at superior solar conjunction |
| 28 Nov 2168 | – | Venus at dichotomy |
| 28 Nov 2168 | – | Venus at greatest elongation east |
| 30 Dec 2168 | – | Venus at highest altitude in evening sky |
| 06 Jan 2169 | – | Venus at greatest brightness |
A graph of the phase of Venus is available here.
Apparitions of Venus
| 05 Feb 2166 | – | Morning apparition |
| 23 Apr 2167 | – | Evening apparition |
| 12 Sep 2167 | – | Morning apparition |
| 28 Nov 2168 | – | Evening apparition |
| 19 Apr 2169 | – | Morning apparition |
| 03 Jul 2170 | – | Evening apparition |
| 21 Nov 2170 | – | Morning apparition |
Observing Venus
Venus's orbit lies closer to the Sun than the Earth's, meaning that it always appears close to the Sun and is lost in the Sun's glare much of the time.
It is observable for a few months each time it reaches greatest separation from the Sun – moments referred to as greatest elongation. These apparitions repeat roughly once every 1.6 years.
On these occasions, Venus is so bright and conspicuous that it becomes the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. It is often called the morning star or the evening star.
Venus's phase
Venus's phase varies depending on its position relative to the Earth. When it passes between the Earth and Sun, for example, the side that is turned towards the Earth is entirely unilluminated, like a new moon.
Conversely, when it lies opposite to the Earth in its orbit, passing almost behind the Sun, it appears fully illuminated, like a full moon. However, at this time it is also at its most distant from the Earth, so it is actually fainter than at other times.
Venus shows an intermediate half phase – called dichotomy – at roughly the same moment that it appears furthest from the Sun, at greatest elongation. The exact times of the two events may differ by a few days, only because Venus's orbit is not quite perfectly aligned with the ecliptic.
Venus's position
The coordinates of Venus when it reaches dichotomy will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Angular Size |
| Venus | 19h37m30s | 24°31'S | Sagittarius | 24.9" |
| Sun | 16h11m | 21°05'S | Scorpius | 32'24" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 23 Apr 2024
| The sky on 23 April 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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99% 15 days old |
All times shown in PDT.
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Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
Related news
| 20 Sep 2167 | – Venus at highest altitude in morning sky |
| 28 Nov 2168 | – Venus at greatest elongation east |
| 31 Dec 2168 | – Venus at highest altitude in evening sky |
| 19 Apr 2169 | – Venus at greatest elongation west |
Image credit
© NASA/Ricardo Nunes