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This sky map shows where Venus should appear just after sunrise local time just after sunrise on Dec. 14, 2010. This particular view is from Phoenix, Ariz. Credit: Starry Night Software [Full Story] |
PHOENIX ? Venus is so
bright, you can see it even in the daytime right now ? if you know where to
look.
Spotting Venus in the
daytime will put you in an exclusive club: the handful of folks around the
world who've ever seen a planet besides our own during daylight.
Here's how to do it:
Go out before
sunrise. You
can't miss Venus, a brilliant beacon hovering in the predawn eastern sky.
Next, find a good
reference point. I suggest standing on the west side of your house or another
building and sighting Venus over the roofline. Then project where Venus will be
after sunrise. It will follow the same basic path as the sun across the sky, up
and to your right.
Once the sun is up,
you'll have a guidepost to use in finding Venus.
You don?t need a telescope.
If you plan to get up
before sunrise Tuesday (Dec. 14) to watch the Geminid
meteor shower, you'll easily spot Venus, and you can extend the skywatching
opportunity to just past dawn.
I used this technique
this morning: I noted the spot where I was standing and where Venus was above
the roofline, then had my wife stand in the same spot.
She found it in just a few seconds. [Photos
of Venus from around the world]
Our 9-year-old son
had to stand a few feet behind my wife to make the geometry work, and a broad
smile crossed his face as he spotted the other world and I told him about the
exclusive club he'd just joined.
Venus appeared as a
stark pinpoint of white light against the blue morning sky. It is extremely
hard to find if you don't know exactly where to look, but once you find it,
it's startling how bright it is.
This sky map of Venus
after sunrise may help give you an idea of where to look after dawn to see the
bright planet.
My wife and son were
both curious how it's possible that another planet is visible during the day.
This is how it works:
Venus shines with
reflected sunlight. Because it is closer to the sun than Earth is, its orbital
path never takes it very far from the sun from our point of view. Venus is
always behind or in front of the sun (when we can't see it) or off to one side
(when we can see it).
That's why Venus is
often called the Evening Star or the Morning Star ? depending on which side of
the sun it's on. That's also why you never see Venus overhead in the night sky.
Outer planets, like
Jupiter, can be opposite the sun in our sky, and therefore overhead at night.
Because of its size
and relative closeness to us, Venus
is brighter than any other planet, and only the sun and moon shine brighter.
If you have lots of
patience to gaze at Venus nonstop for several minutes, or if you don't have a
roofline handy, you can simply find Venus just before the sun comes up, and
keep your eye on it until the sun's rays strike your face. Either trick will
work any morning this month as Venus continues to shine brightly as the Morning
Star ?or, as some have called it, the Christmas Star.
- Geminid
Meteor Shower Peaks Dec. 13-14
- Gallery
- Venus Seen From Around the World
- Telescopes
for Beginners

