Venus Will Be the Brightest It’ll Be All Year on April 27

Thrillest ^ | 04/24/2020 | Duston Nelson

[BenLurkin]

We're slowly approaching the night when Venus will be the brightest it's going to be in 2020. That moment arrives the night of April 27, right around 9pm EST.

That evening, the planet hits its greatest illuminated extent, a fancy way of saying its really damn bright. This is the juncture when "the illuminated portion of Venus covers the greatest square area of the sky's dome," writes EarthSky. When it's at its brightest for the year, Venus is almost three times as bright as it is when it's at its dimmest.

[Conan the Librarian]

Hope to be in New Smyrna Beach by then. Will take a peak.

[fidelis]

It’s already pretty bright; you can’t miss it it the western sky right after sunset. Here in the desert, it should be a good show with that little crescent moon close at hand.

[jeffc]

It’s pretty darn bright now! It almost looks like sunlight (just B4 sunset) reflecting off a satellite...

[jeffc]

=:-)

[RandallFlagg]

My brother’s birthday. Nice.

[Alas Babylon!]

I started to see it last night, while the sun wasn’t even under the horizon!

The sunset was not in my eyes as it was behind some trees, but Venus’s light was visible while the woods before were still lit.

[Old Yeller]

Will it be more noticeable than Uranus?

[jmacusa]

Venus. In the Spring and Summer it’s The Evening Star. In The Fall and Winter it’s The Morning Star.

[dragnet2]

A relatively rare event, I obtained this image of the transit of Venus across the Sun's face, taken 6/5/2012 when Venus was near maximum transit. The next Venus Transit will be 105.5 years later or on December 10/11/2117. Few alive today will ever see it again.

This was obtained with 10" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. using Baader solar filters.

Puts everything in perspective, as Venus is close to the size of Earth, and it's just a round dot, still many millions of miles from the sun surface. One can imagine how small Venus would appear in this image if it could somehow be placed just a few thousands miles from the Sun's surface.

[crusty old prospector]

It has been very bright lately.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[Romulus]

No; the pattern is not this regular.

[jmacusa]

Be that as it may in some twenty years of sky watching here on the east coast of the US old Venus seems to be regular.

[SunkenCiv]

It's been very impressive for quite a number of nights, y'know, when there hasn't been overcast.

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[JimRed]

Looks like a disc instead of a dot.

[Rummyfan]

It’s so bright now you can practically reach out and touch it. Can’t wait....

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

The Ancients observed Venus without any scope for 100’s of years. Venus has phases that appear like our own moon (full, half, quarter). For half of the year it is an evening star, the other half a morning star. Way cool. Looking forward to the 27th.

[alexander_busek]

Venus. In the Spring and Summer it’s The Evening Star. In The Fall and Winter it’s The Morning Star.

That is true for some years, but not for others.

Generally speaking, therefore, it is misleading to assert that.

Regards,