"Venus Has Its Best Year Since 1882, and Reaches Its Greatest Brilliancy this Sunday, May 2nd!"

Scheduled air date: 2004 Apr 26-May 02

Our neighbor planet Venus reached Greatest Eastern Elongation (maximum apparent distance from the Sun) on March 28th, and will be at its brightest—or Greatest Brilliancy—on May 2nd.  Through a telescope, Venus can be seen to undergo phase changes just like our own Moon.
(Shown about 80 minutes after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes on dates indicated.  Inserts show telescopic view of Venus with corresponding phase.)

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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.