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Venus has emerged out of the post-sunset misty mire to be seen quickly after sundown as dazzling night star. There’s the bonus too of Jupiter, the king of the planets, mendacity round 20° above Venus. Preserve a detailed eye on the pair on any clear early evenings because the pair are converging on the sky for a really particular coming collectively on the finish of February into early March. That’s not the top of the observing story for this month although, as Neptune, the distant ice-giant that’s the farthest-lying planet within the Photo voltaic System, additionally lies very near Venus.
It’s all the time a particular sight when Venus is within the evening sky, particularly when it stands excessive sufficient for city and metropolis dwellers to see and its brilliance is enhanced towards an astronomically-dark sky, as is the case later this month.
The right way to observe
Venus shines brilliantly at near magnitude –4, simply surpassing the brightness of all night-time astronomical objects besides the Moon. By the top of civil twilight at about 5.40pm GMT, when the Solar has dipped 6° under the horizon, the second planet lies 15° excessive over the west-southwestern horizon. Venus units at about 7.30pm. A small telescope can simply reveal Venus’ 89.7 per cent-illuminated gibbous disc.
Venus encounters distant Neptune on the early evenings of 14 and 15 February, when the pair are as shut as 54’ and 16’, respectively. On 22 February, a younger crescent moon lies between Venus and Jupiter, offering a implausible astro-imaging alternative.
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