https://www.timeanddate.com/news/astronomy/venus-morning-star-2023 timeanddate.com [ ] Sign in * News + Astronomy News + Time Zone News + Calendar & Holiday News + Live events * World Clock + Main World Clock + Extended World Clock + Personal World Clock + Clock for Your Site + UTC Time * Time Zones + Time Zones Home + Time Zone Converter + Meeting Planner + Event Time Announcer + Time Zone Map + Time Zone Abbreviations + Daylight Saving Time + Time Changes Worldwide + Time Difference + Time Zone News * Calendar + Calendars Home + Calendar 2023 + Calendar 2024 + Monthly Calendar + Printable Calendar (PDF) + Add Your Own Calendar Events + Calendar Creator + Holidays Worldwide + On This Day in History + Fun Holidays + Months of the Year + Days of the Week + About Leap Years * Weather + Worldwide + Local Weather + 2-Week Forecast + Hour-by-Hour + Past Week + Climate * Sun, Moon & Space + Sun & Moon Home + Sun Calculator + Moon Calculator + Moon Phases + Night Sky + Meteor Showers + Day and Night Map + Moon Light World Map + Eclipses + Oct 14 Annular Solar Eclipse + April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse + Live Streams + Seasons + Astronomy News * Timers + Timers Home + Stopwatch + Timer + Countdown to Any Date + Eclipse Countdown + Fall Countdown + New Year Countdown + Countdown for Your Site * Calculators + Calculators Home + Date to Date Calculator (duration) + Business Date to Date (exclude holidays) + Date Calculator (add / subtract) + Business Date (exclude holidays) + Weekday Calculator + Week Number Calculator + Roman Numeral Converter + Alternative Age Calculator + Date Pattern Calculator + Distance Calculator * My Account + My Account + My Location + My Units + My Events + My World Clock + My Privacy + Paid Services + Sign in + Register Home Sun & Moon Astronomy The Hidden Patterns of Venus's Movement across the Sky The Hidden Patterns of Venus's Movement across the Sky By Graham Jones. Published 15-Sep-2023RSS Venus performs a dazzling 19-month dance as the morning and evening star. But digging into the data reveals more subtle patterns. Venus shines brightly near the horizon Venus is often impossible to miss as it shines near the Sun in the early-morning or early-evening sky. In September 2023, Venus glows brightly in the east before sunrise. (c)iStockphoto.com/PavelRodimov The Dazzling Planet After the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest natural object in the sky. The planet dances in the sky in a way that is hard to miss. Over the course of 584 days--just over one year and seven months--it moves gracefully from the morning sky to the evening sky and back again. Find Venus on our Night Sky Map Each time, however, it moves in a slightly different way, producing patterns that can only be revealed by plotting data over many thousands of years (see below). September 2023: Venus in the Morning Sky In 2023, toward the end of August, Venus emerged from the glare of the Sun, and began a roughly seven-month reign as "the morning star." It's easy to spot in the eastern sky before sunrise. Venus reaches its maximum brightness around September 17. A month or so later, on October 23, it reaches its farthest distance from the Sun in the morning sky. Astronomers call this the planet's greatest elongation west. Astronomy calendar: things to see in the sky Venus at greatest elongation west: a screengrab from the timeanddate Night Sky Map for New York, 30 minutes before sunrise on October 23, 2023 Venus at greatest elongation west: a screengrab from the timeanddate Night Sky Map for New York, 30 minutes before sunrise on October 23, 2023 Venus at its farthest distance from the Sun in the morning sky. This view from our Night Sky Map is taken looking east from New York City, 30 minutes before sunrise on October 23, 2023. (c)timeanddate.com Next Year: Venus Moves into the Evening Sky In April 2024, Venus disappears back into the glare of the Sun. In July 2024, it re-emerges in the western sky, and begins seven months or so as "the evening star." The planet arrives at its farthest evening distance from the Sun-- greatest elongation east--on January 10, 2025. In March 2025, Venus is again swallowed by the Sun, and is reborn as the morning star. The entire cycle of Venus--from morning star to evening star and back again--takes 583.92 days to complete. Astronomers refer to this as the synodic period of Venus. Why Greatest Elongation West and East? When Venus is the morning star, it reaches greatest elongation west. This name can be confusing because, in the morning, Venus shines brightly in the eastern sky. However, Venus lies west of the Sun as the pair travel across the sky from the eastern horizon to the western horizon. Likewise, when it shines as the evening star in the western sky, Venus lies to the east of the Sun as they journey from east to west. Why Is Venus Never Too Far from the Sun? Venus orbits the Sun more closely than Earth does. This means that, from our perspective, the planet always appears to be somewhere near the Sun. The maximum distance in the sky between Venus and the Sun--in other words, the distance at greatest elongation--is, roughly speaking, 46deg. A handy guide to measuring the sky Movement within Movements Hidden inside the eye-catching motions of the morning star and evening star are more subtle patterns. Venus's maximum distance from the Sun is never precisely the same from one greatest elongation to the next: it varies by a few degrees. However, as we noted in a story in June, Venus repeats a near-identical sequence of greatest elongations every eight years. This repetition occurs because Venus's synodic period (583.92 days) falls into alignment with Earth's sidereal year, which is the period of its orbit around the Sun with respect to the stars (365.26 days). * 8 Earth sidereal years = 8 x 365.26 days = 2922.08 days * 5 Venus synodic periods = 5 x 583.92 days = 2919.60 days * Difference = 2.48 days Subtlety within Subtleties Yet there are even more subtle rhythms underpinning Venus's movements. The eight-year sequence of greatest elongations repeats in a near-identical way--but not a perfectly identical way. We wanted to see what would happen if we plotted the greatest elongations of Venus over many thousands of years. To do this, we used a mathematical model of the solar system called Development Ephemeris 431 (DE431), created by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology. DE431 predicts the positions of the planets over a period of around 30,000 years. The following chart shows every greatest elongation of Venus from BCE 12,999 (roughly 15,000 years ago) to CE 16,999 (roughly 15,000 years into the future). What do CE and BCE mean? Each dot on the chart represents a greatest elongation; there are 37,530 dots in total. Graph showing Greatest elongations of Venus in 30000 years Graph showing Greatest elongations of Venus in 30000 years This chart is made up of 37,530 dots--these represent Venus's angular distance from the Sun at every greatest elongation over a period of 30,000 years. (To help put this time frame into perspective, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge was built around 4,500 years ago.) (c)timeanddate.com Waves across Time When we crunched the numbers and plotted the data on the chart, we found the dots form ten lines that run from left to right as waves. The dots within each individual line are separated by eight years: these are the near-identical greatest elongations that take place every eight years. If greatest elongations were perfectly identical every eight years, there would be ten horizontal lines running across the chart. Instead , because greatest elongations differ by a tiny fraction of a degree every eight years, the result is ten wavy lines. Families of Waves We can see from the chart that all greatest elongations of Venus are within a few degrees of 46deg. We can also see that the ten wavy lines from two groups of five lines each. One group of lines shows bigger differences in the peaks and troughs of its waves. These are greatest elongations east, or evening elongations. On the left side of the chart, these evening elongations have a range of more than three degrees, from around 44.8deg to 47.9deg. On the right side of the chart, their range has narrowed to about half a degree, from 46.0deg to 46.6deg. The other group of lines shows smaller differences in the highest and lowest points of its waves. These are greatest elongations west, or morning elongations. Roughly 6000 years from now, these morning elongations reach a point of maximum variation. Here they have a range of about one-and-a-quarter degrees, from 45.7deg to 47.0deg. Where are we now? Venus's greatest elongation west of October 2023 is 46.41deg, more or less in the middle of the chart. Off the Chart The point of maximum variation for greatest elongations east is not shown in our chart. It happens somewhere off the chart to the left, many thousands of years in the past. Similarly, the point of minimum variation for greatest elongations east is somewhere off the right side of the chart, a long way into the future. Planets, Sun, and Moon 1. The Sun: Our Home Star 2. Mercury: The Iron Planet 3. Venus: Our Twin Planet 4. Earth: The Living Planet 5. The Moon: Our Satellite 6. Mars: The Red Planet 7. Jupiter: The Massive Planet 8. Saturn: The Ringed Planet 9. Uranus: The Sideways Planet 10. Neptune: The Blue Planet Illustration image The Sky Tonight Which planets are visible in the night sky from your location. The Solar System 1. What Is the Solar System? 2. What Is a Planet? 3. What Is a Conjunction? 4. How Do Gravity Assists Work? 5. What Is the Ecliptic? 6. Astronomical Glossary Illustration image Distance, Brightness, and Apparent Size of Planets See how far the planets are from the Sun or Earth, how bright they look, and their apparent size in the sky. Illustration image Planet Sizes and Order How large are the planets and what is their order from the Sun? Advertising Elsewhere on timeanddate.com Finding Meteorites Finding Meteorites Most space rocks burn up when they enter the atmosphere, but some make it all the way to the ground. Here's how to find them. Calendar 2023 with 12 months | Printable Calendar 12 Months of the Year The 12 months of the year are linked to the Moon's orbit around Earth. Why are there 12 months? What do the month names mean? [noon-clock] AM and PM Explained How does the 12-hour clock system work? Is midnight 12 am or 12 pm? Commuters and tourists in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. Daylight Saving Time (DST) Why do many countries set the clocks back and forth an hour twice a year? How was your experience? Thank you for your feedback! Contact Us Illustration of a pink shield with a white heart. Love Our Site? Become a Supporter * Browse our site advert free. * Sun & Moon times precise to the second. * Exclusive calendar templates for PDF Calendar. The timeanddate logo (c) Time and Date AS 1995-2023 Company * About us * Careers/Jobs * Contact Us * Contact Details * Sitemap * Newsletter Legal * Link policy * Advertising * Disclaimer * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Policy * My Privacy Services * World Clock * Time Zones * Calendar * Weather * Sun & Moon * Timers * Calculators * API * Apps Sites * timeanddate.no * timeanddate.de Follow Us (c) Time and Date AS 1995-2023. Privacy & Terms