Scheduled air date: 2001 Mar 05-11

During the month of March, the planet Venus will appear lower in the sky each
evening as it nears inferior conjunction—when it passes between us and
the Sun. This will mark the end of its current appearance as the
"Evening Star," and the beginning of its next appearance as the
"Morning Star."
In fact, because Venus will pass far north of the Sun during this particular
conjunction, for a few days near the end of this month Northern-hemisphere
viewers with a low horizon will be able to see Venus in the mornings and
evenings! This won't happen again until eight years—and five inferior
conjunctions—from now.
(Shown for mid-Northern latitudes.)

Click on the above image to see an animated
QuickTime® presentation! (518 KB)
As Venus approaches Earth, it grows in apparent size. Because it is closer
to the Sun, however, we see an increasingly thinner crescent.
If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.
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Illustrations on this page were created using
TheSky Astronomy
Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc. |