The Planets

Venus

Next to the Sun and Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky (approximately magnitude -4). It's sometimes surprisingly high (40°) above the horizon. Since its orbit is smaller than, or inside, that of the Earth, if it's visible, it will be in the east before sunrise or in the west after sunset. Venus switches between being a brilliant morning "star" and an evening "star."

Venus exhibits phases similar to the moon, but never appears "full". The length of its year is 225 Earth days, which is roughly 2/3 of an Earth year. Consequently, Venus spends a relatively long time going through each of its phases.

 

Updated on 2005-03-03