Venus Exits the Evening Sky

Over the next week Venus will be lost to the Sun’s glare. It is currently about 15° east of the Sun, but getting closer quite quickly now and becoming tough to spot in the sunset. The planet will pass through inferior conjunction on March 25th. The planet will appear in the dawn sky around mid April. When it does appear, it will spend the remainder of 2017 as the morning star.

Even when low in the sunset, Venus is worth picking up in a telescope. As the planet approaches inferior conjunction it shows an ever more crescent appearance to our earthbound vantage point. During the last days of visibility it will be a razor thin crescent, worth the effort to look.

Venus Events for 2017
		Date UT	Separation	Mag
Maximum Elongation		Jan 12	47.1°E	-4.4
Inferior Conjunction		Mar 25
Maximum Elongation		Jun 3	45.9°W	-4.3
Source: NASA Sky Calendar