When to observe: Venus got here into view after sundown in December 2022 and has been seen within the night sky all through the primary half of 2023. Best elongation – when Venus shall be farthest from the sundown – occurs on June 4, 2023. Afterwards, Venus will rapidly sink towards the sundown because it races towards its sweep between the Earth and sun round mid-August 2023.
The place to look: Look within the sundown route whereas the sky is darkening. You possibly can’t miss Venus because the dazzling night “star.”
Best elongation is at 11 UTC on June 4. That’s a whole-Earth time … for all of us, Venus will nonetheless seem in our night sky, within the west after sundown. At this elongation, the gap of Venus from the sun on the sky’s dome is 46 degrees.
Magnitude at biggest elongation: Venus shines at magnitude -4.4.
By a telescope: Venus seems 49% illuminated, in a primary quarter phase, 23.56 arcseconds throughout.
Word: Because the sun’s 2nd planet, Venus is sure by an invisible tether to the sun in our sky. It’s at all times east earlier than dawn, or west after sundown (by no means overhead at midnight). Venus is the brightest planet seen from Earth and shines brilliantly all through each morning or night apparition. Best elongation occurs when Venus is farthest from the sun on the sky’s dome.
For exact sun and Venus rising instances at your location:
Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)
timeanddate.com (worldwide)
Stellarium (free on-line planetarium program)
Venus after sundown in 2023 Northern Hemisphere
Venus after sundown in 2023 Southern Hemisphere
A comparability of elongations
Not all of Venus’s biggest elongations are created equal. That’s as a result of the farthest from the sun that Venus can ever seem on the sky’s dome is about 47.3 degrees. Then again, the least distance is round 45.4 levels.
Elongations are additionally greater or decrease relying on the time of yr they happen and your location on Earth.
Venus occasions from late 2022 into 2024
October 22, 2022: Superior conjunction (passes behind sun from Earth)
June 4, 2023: Best elongation (night)
August 13, 2023: Inferior conjunction (races between Earth and sun)
October 23, 2023: Best elongation (morning)
June 4, 2024: Superior conjunction (passes behind sun from Earth)
Backside line: At biggest jap elongation on June 4, 2023, Venus is as removed from the sundown as it is going to be for this night apparition.
