The Venus Morning Apparition

of 2020-2021

by Martin J. Powell

The path of Venus through the zodiac constellations during the planet's morning apparition in 2020-21 (click on thumbnail for the full-size image, 45 KB). A version with constellation labels can be seen here (60 KB). Constellation names are shown in their three-letter abbreviated format - the full names are listed here. Zodiac constellations are labelled in green and non-zodiac constellations in grey. The numbers along the sides of the chart (Right Ascension and Declination) are co-ordinates of celestial longitude and latitude which are used to locate the position of a celestial body in the night sky. A print-friendly version is available here (26 KB).

Having passed through inferior conjunction on June 3rd 2020 (when it was positioned directly between the Earth and the Sun), Venus swiftly entered the dawn sky as a 'Morning Star' in mid-June. Equatorial and Southern latitudes were the first to see it, low down in the ENE shortly before sunrise. Northern latitudes began to detect the planet from around mid-June (at 30° North), late June (50° North) and early July (60° North). At the commencement of the apparition, Venus rose in twilight across the inhabited world, not attaining any significant altitude (angle above the local horizon) before disappearing from view in the brightening sky. The planet was moving retrograde (East to West) towards the ESE against the background stars at this time, positioned just to the North of the Hyades star cluster, a distinct 'V'-shaped grouping of stars forming the head of Taurus, the Bull.

Orbitally, Venus was now positioned at a relatively close 0.2724 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Earth (40.7 million kms or 25.3 million statute miles). During June the planet's solar elongation (angular distance from the Sun) increased rapidly from 10° West on June 10th to 20° West only one week later. As it emerged from the dawn twilight, telescopes pointed towards the planet showed a large, slender, Eastward-facing crescent, around 5% illuminated (phase = 0.05). The planet's apparent diameter measured 56" (56 arcseconds, where 1 arcsecond = 1/60th of an arcminute or 1/3600th of a degree) and it shone at an apparent magnitude of -3.9. The crescent appeared greatly disturbed by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, being split into the rainbow colours by an effect called dispersion (an example of how dispersion appears through a telescope can be seen here, along with other phases of the planet). Venus' large apparent diameter also meant that the crescent could be glimpsed in the twilight by observers using binoculars, its apparently tiny crescent facing down towards the horizon. The planet's apparent diameter would shrink throughout the morning apparition, as it slowly receded from the Earth in space.

Planet Venus near to the Sun sketched by Frank McCabe during the planet's morning apparition on March 21st 2009 (click on the thumbnail for a larger image, 7 KB). McCabe used a 4¼-inch (1080mm) Newtonian reflector telescope at 107x magnification (Image: Frank McCabe / ASOD)

Whilst Venus was pulling away from the Sun, dedicated telescopic observers began their search for the elusive Ashen Light, which is a faint glowing of the night side of Venus through its thick clouds. The phenomenon is believed to be caused either by the planet's surface glowing red hot (due to its extremely high surface temperature) or due to electrical activity in its dense atmosphere. Observers searching for the Light will normally use ultraviolet and/or infrared filters in order to help reveal it, an occulting bar often being used to block the bright, visually-intrusive crescent from view. Observers in Equatorial and Southern hemisphere latitudes were best placed to view the Light at this early stage of the apparition due to the higher altitude of Venus above the horizon before sunrise.

Moving retrograde, Venus passed 2° North of the star Secunda Hyadum (¹ Tau or Delta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.7) on June 14th. It is a triple star system positioned about half-way along the Northern arm of the Hyades cluster. Before the International Astronomical Union (IAU) standardized the name in 2017, the star was also known as Secundus Hyadum or Hyadum II. At the apex of the Hyades' 'V-shape' is the star Prima Hyadum ( Tau or Gamma Tauri, mag. +3.6) which, before IAU standardization, was known variously as Primus Hyadum or Hyadum I. Venus passed 3°.3 North of the star on June 17th.

At around 0830 UT on June 19th, observers located in extreme North-eastern Canada and USA (Maine) were able to observe the 27-day-old waning crescent Moon passing in front of Venus, blocking it from view, in an event known as a lunar occultation. The event took place in twilight just after local Moonrise; it was one of two lunar occultations which took place during the planet's 2020-21 morning apparition. Details of their timings and tracks of visibility can be seen by following the link in the Moon near Venus Dates section below.

From around mid-June Venus' motion turned more Southward against the background stars as it skirted the Northern arm of the Hyades, its daily apparent motion slowing with each passing day. On June 24th the planet's Eastward motion ceased as it reached its Western stationary point, positioned a couple of degrees to the West of the cluster. Thereafter, the planet began direct motion (West to East) which it would continue through to the end of the apparition. Venus reached a solar elongation of 30° West on June 26th.

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Venus entered the Hyades through its Northern arm on July 4th, passing 22' (0°.3) South of the aforementioned Secunda Hyadum on July 5th.

Venus attained its greatest brilliancy for this apparition (mag. -4.5) on July 8th, positioned in the cental Hyades, about 2° to the WNW of Taurus' brightest star Aldebaran ( Tau or Alpha Tauri, mag. +0.9). The planet's greatest brilliancy occurs when the percentage of the illuminated portion of the disk (phase) and its angular size combine to best visual effect. In the 2020-21 morning apparition this took place when the planet was 25% illuminated (phase = 0.25), its apparent diameter was 38".5 and its solar elongation was 38° West of the Sun.

Also on July 8th, Venus passed 1°.4 North of the star Chamukuy (² Tau or Theta-2 Tauri, mag. +3.7), the brightest of the Hyades' 'true' members (see Aldebaran below), positioned about half-way along the Southern arm of the cluster. The name Chamukuy was approved by the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN), a new division of the IAU, in June 2017. Since 2016 the WGSN has been cataloguing and standardizing the star names used by the international astronomical community. In the process, its has tried to accommodate the astronomical lore of a wider diversity of global cultures, i.e. from mythologies other than Arab, Greek and Roman, whose star names dominate the night sky. Chamukuy is the name of a small bird in Yucatec Mayan culture and it forms a naked-eye yellow-white double with  ¹ Tau (Theta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.8), positioned some 337" (5'.6 or 0°.09) to the North. At the same moment that Venus passed Chamukuy, it also passed 1°.8 South of the star Ain ( Tau or Epsilon Tauri, mag. +3.5), which marks the base of the Bull's Northern horn. An exoplanet (a planet orbiting a star which is outside our Solar System) was detected orbiting Ain in 2007, which was given the designation Epsilon Tauri b.

Venus passed by several other 'newly-named' stars during its 2020-21 morning apparition, each of which will be discussed below, along with many better-known star names (proper names) for which the IAU have now introduced standardized spellings.

Venus passed 1° to the North of Aldebaran on July 12th, an orange-red star which marks the 'eye' of the Bull. Its coloration derives from the fact that it is a red giant star. Most of the Hyades stars comprise a genuine cluster, moving through space together, however Aldebaran is not part of the group; it is a foreground star, positioned at a much closer distance of 68 light years (where 1 light year = 63,240 AU) from Earth. Aldebaran is currently the brightest star in the night sky which is known to host an exoplanet. Confirmed in 2015, it is known as Aldebaran b and is estimated to have a minimum mass of about six Jupiter masses.

Around mid-July, observers at mid-Southern latitudes saw Venus attain its highest altitude in the sky before sunrise for the 2020-21 apparition. At 35° South latitude, the planet rose around 3 hours ahead of the Sun and reached an altitude of around 26° high at 30 minutes before sunrise. From the Equator (latitude 0°) the planet also rose 3 hours ahead of the Sun, but reached an altitude of 33º in the ENE at one half-hour before sunrise. From the Northern hemisphere the altitudes attained by Venus at one half-hour before sunrise were considerably lower and the visibility durations were less: at 30° North the planet rose 2¾ hours ahead of the Sun, reaching an altitude of 28° in the East; at 50° North the planet rose 2½ hours before sunrise, reaching 18° high in the East and at 60° North it rose 2¼ hours before sunrise, reaching just 10° high in the ENE.

Venus at 40% Phase imaged by John Boudreau (Saugus, MA, USA) on December 20th 2018 using a 14½-inch (368mm) Dall-Kirkham telescope fitted with a CMOS camera (click on the thumbnail for a larger image, 4 KB) (Image: John Boudreau / ALPO-Japan)

In mid-July Venus was joined in the dawn sky by the planet Mercury (mag. +2.3), now commencing its second morning apparition of 2020 and its fourth of the year overall (including evening apparitions). It was one of two paired apparitions between Venus and Mercury which took place during the 2020-21 apparition (a paired apparition being when the two planets are visible together for a prolonged period of time, either in the morning sky or the evening sky). The two planets came closest together on July 20th, when Mercury (mag. +0.6) was positioned a significant 23° to the East of Venus. Mercury itself reached greatest Western elongation (20°.1 West of the Sun) on July 22nd. The waning crescent Moon passed near the two planets between July 16th and 19th.

About half-way along the Bull's Southern horn is the unremarkable fifth-magnitude star 104 Tauri (mag. +4.9); Venus passed 7'.9 (0.13) to the South of it on July 24th at 0105 UT. Venus will occult this star on the same calendar date during its morning apparition in 2028, eight years hence (i.e. one Venus 'cycle' - for more details, see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle).

On July 29th Venus passed 9°.4 South of the star Elnath ( Tau or Beta Tauri, mag. +1.6), which is located at the tip of the Bull's Northern horn. The name was standardized by the IAU in 2016, previous versions of the name being spelled Al Nath, El Nath or simply Nath. The star also neatly completes the six-sided figure comprising the stars of Auriga, the Charioteer, located to the North-east of Taurus.

The star marking the tip of the Bull's Southern horn is Tianguan ( Tau or Zeta Tauri, mag. +2.9v), another 'new' name adopted by the IAU in 2017. The name Tianguan is derived from Chinese astronomy, in which it means 'Celestial Gate', an asterism within the 'Net' ('Bì Xiù') mansion. Venus passed 1°.7 South of the star on August 2nd.

During the first week of August, Mercury's second morning apparition of 2020 drew to a close as it headed into the bright dawn twilight. On August 5th, Venus entered the Northernmost section of Orion, the Hunter, which it would occupy for the next nine days. On August 6th the planet passed 12°.4 North of Betelgeuse ( Ori or Alpha Orionis, mag. +0.7v), an orange-red variable star positioned at the North-eastern corner of the Hunter's quadrilateral. Its magnitude fluctuates between about +0.0 and +1.3 over a period of several years, which means that only on short occasions does it take the title of the brightest star in Orion - most of the time, this honour goes to Rigel ( Ori or Beta Orionis, mag. +0.1v), positioned on the opposite corner of the quadrilateral. Venus passed through the Northern part of Orion's 'club', topped by the stars ¹ Ori and ² Ori (Chi-1 and Chi-2 Orionis, mags. +4.4 and +4.6), between August 6th and 8th.

The planet passed 3°.3 South of the star 1 Gem (1 Geminorum, mag. +4.2), in the neighbouring constellation of Gemini, on August 9th. The star marks the foot of the Northern twin (Castor). A short distance North-east of 1 Geminorum is the open star cluster M35 (Messier 35 or NGC 2168). The cluster has an apparent diameter of 30' (about the size of the Full Moon) and it contains over 400 stars(!) It can be glimpsed with the naked-eye as a misty patch of light on a dark, clear night. Venus passed 4°.3 South of the cluster on August 10th.

On August 11th Venus passed 2°.5 South of the star Propus ( Gem or Eta Geminorum, mag. +3.5v), also referred to as Tejat Prior or Praepes before IAU standardization in 2016.

Observers in Equatorial latitudes now saw Venus attain its highest altitude above the local horizon for this apparition, the planet being some 37° high in the ENE at 30 minutes before sunrise. At these latitudes, the planet rose over 3 hours before sunup.

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At 0127 UT on August 13th, Venus reached its greatest elongation from the Sun for this apparition (45°.8 West). Only minutes later, the planet entered Gemini, the Twins. Telescopes now showed Venus' disk half-illuminated (phase = 0.50 or 50%) with an apparent diameter of 23".6. Although the greatest elongation from the Sun occurred on August 13th, Venus was in fact positioned at 45°.8 elongation for a whole week from August 10th through to August 16th. The planet's apparent magnitude at this time was -4.3. When seen from a point far above the Solar System, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now formed a right-angled triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the 90° angle.

In theory, greatest elongation is the time at which the planet's terminator (the line seperating the light and dark sides of the planet) appears perfectly straight through telescopes, essentially dividing Venus into two perfect halves; this is known as the dichotomy. However, telescopic observers often report the straight terminator several days earlier or later than the greatest elongation date; typically early in evening apparitions and late in morning apparitions. This is known as the phase anomaly or Schröter's Effect (after the German astronomer Johann Schröter, who first observed the phenomenon in 1793) and is thought to be due to Venus' dense atmosphere scattering the sunlight. In the 2020-21 apparition, therefore, telescopic observers could have expected to see a 50% phase on or around August 17th.

Contrary to what one might think, greatest elongation day is not necessarily the day on which Venus is above the horizon ahead of sunrise for the longest period of time. Since the angle of the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun, which the Moon and planets follow very closely) to the Eastern horizon at dawn varies with the observer's latitude, Venus is seen above the horizon for differing periods of time at different latitudes. At 60° North Venus rose 4 hours before sunrise, whilst at 45° South the planet rose only 2¾ hours before the Sun. At other Northern latitudes the visibility durations were as follows: 3¾ hours at 50° North; 3½ hours at 30° North; 3¼ hours at the Northern Tropics and the Equator. In the Southern hemisphere the planet was above the horizon for 3 hours at 15° South and the Southern Tropics, and 2¼ hours at 35° and 45° South. Hence for the current apparition, observers at higher Northern latitudes were best placed to see Venus above the horizon for the longest period on greatest elongation day.

Venus at Greatest Elongation in the morning sky, imaged by Akira Nakata of Kobe, Japan on January 7th 2019 (click on the thumbnail for a larger image, 3 KB). Nakata used an 10-inch (25cm) Newtonian reflector telescope fitted with a CMOS camera (Image: Akira Nakata / ALPO-Japan)

At any given time before sunrise on greatest elongation day in 2020, the altitude reached by the planet was highest in the Northern Tropics. Taking a period of 30 minutes before sunrise as an example, it was 37° high at latitude 20° North. The lowest altitude attained by the planet on this day was at mid-Southern latitudes, where it was only around 17° above the horizon at one half-hour before sunrise. Even at high-Northern latitudes, where the planet was visible for much longer on this day, the altitude was not particularly high: only 23° at 60° North, for example. The reason for this is that, at high Northern latitudes, the rise/set angle is much shallower than at Equatorial or mid-Southern latitudes. Twilight also lasts longer at high-Northern latitudes during the local summer months (a consequence of the Sun's high declination and shallow rising angle), which allows the planet to be seen for a longer period. Consequently, on this occasion Venus was visible on greatest elongation for longer in the Northern hemisphere than in the Southern, despite its sub-optimal altitude above the horizon.

Greatest elongation day now having passed, the phase of Venus changed from crescentic to gibbous (i.e. between a half-disk and a full disk), as it would remain through to the end of the apparition.

Later on August 13th Venus passed 2°.4 South of the star Tejat ( Gem or Mu Geminorum, mag. +3.0v), which marks the Northern twin's knee. Before IAU standardization the star was known by several other names: Tejat Posterior, Nuhatai, Calx and Pish Pai! At 0324 UT on August 15th Venus passed 6'.8 (0°.11) to the South of the double star  Gem (Nu Geminorum, mag.+4.1), which the planet will occult on the same calendar date eight years hence, in 2028. At around 09 hours UT on the same day, the distance between the Earth and Venus was the same as that between the Sun and Venus, at 0.7260 AU (108.6 million kms or 67.4 million miles). Seen from far above the Earth's North pole, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now formed an isoscelene triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the apex.

On August 17th Venus passed 3°.8 North of the star Alhena ( Gem or Gamma Geminorum, mag. +2.0), which is positioned at the foot of the Southern twin (Pollux).

On August 18th the planet passed 4°.9 South of Mebsuta ( Gem or Epsilon Geminorum, mag. +3.0) which is positioned at the groin of the Northern twin. On the same day Venus attained its highest declination for this apparition, at +20° 6' 26" (+20°.1072 in decimal format). The planet now rose at its most Northerly point along the local horizon, an effect which was more pronounced the further North in latitude an observer was situated.  For example, at the Equator Venus rose in the ENE at this time whilst at 60° North it rose in the North-east, some 25° further North along the horizon.

By the third week of August Venus was rising in darkness across the inhabited world. At 0955 UT on August 23rd Venus passed 30' (0°.5) South of the optical double star Mekbuda (Gem or Zeta Geminorum, mag. +3.9v), positioned at the right knee of the Southern twin. The planet passed 2°.1 South of the star Wasat ( Gem or Delta Geminorum, mag. +3.5) on August 27th and 12°.2 South of Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.6), Gemini's second-brightest star, on August 30th.

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At the start of September, telescopes showed Venus with a 60% illuminated gibbous phase, its apparent diameter having reduced below 20". To the naked-eye the planet now shone at an apparent visual magnitude of -4.2.

At around 0725 UT on September 1st, the constellation's brightest star Pollux ( Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.1), Gem (Kappa Geminorum, mag. +3.5) and Venus formed a line 8°.6 in length, aligned roughly celestial North and South. The line was visible just before dawn from the North-eastern tip of Canada, the North-eastern tip of the USA and the North-eastern part of South America. The angular distance between Pollux and   Gem is 3°.6 and that between Gem and Venus was 4°.9. Extending the line some 14°.3 to the South of Venus brought one very close to the bright star Procyon ( CMi or Alpha Canis Minoris, mag. +0.5) in the constellation of Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog. Venus passed 5°.0 South of Gem itself at around 1240 UT that same day, and about an hour later, the planet passed 8º.6 to the South of Pollux. In 2006 an exoplanet was discovered orbiting Pollux, which is 34 light years distant. Named Pollux b or Thestias (after the patronage of Leda in Greek mythology), the exoplanet is thought to have a mass equivalent to 2.3 Jupiter masses and it orbits the star at a distance of 1.6 AU in a period of 589 days. Pollux is the brightest of seven stars in Gemini which are thus far known to host an exoplanet.

From late August into early September, observers at Northern latitudes saw the planet attain its highest altitude above the horizon for the 2020-21 morning apparition. At latitude 30° North, some 30 minutes before sunrise, the planet reached 37° above the Eastern horizon. At higher latitudes the altitude attained was progressively less. From latitude 50° North, in early September, the planet was placed 33° above the Eastern horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise. From latitude 60° North, in late August, the planet was placed 31° above the ESE horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise. Two weeks after the date of greatest elongation, Northern latitudes saw Venus rising 3½ hours before the Sun (at 30° North), 4 hours before the Sun (at 50° North) and 4½ hours before the Sun (at 60° North). At Equatorial latitudes the planet rose in the ENE 3 hours before sunrise while at 35° South the planet rose in the East about 2½ hours before the Sun.

'Morning Star' Venus rising at the start of dawn twilight, photographed by the writer in July 2017 (click on the thumbnail for the full-size picture, 198 KB). The planet was positioned in Taurus, a short distance North-east of the Hyades cluster - the V-shaped group of stars at the right of the picture.

Venus entered Cancer, the Crab - the faintest of the zodiac constellations - on September 4th. At around 1640 UT on September 6th Castor, Pollux and Venus formed a line some 15°.2 in length, orientated SSE-NNW. The alignment was visible just before dawn from the central and North-western Pacific Ocean. The line pointed towards the head of Hydra, the Water Snake, positioned 16° to the SSE of Venus.

Venus passed 9°.2 North of Cancer's brightest star Tarf ( Cnc or Beta Cancri, mag. +3.5) on September 8th. The star is positioned at the South-western corner of the constellation's lambda-shaped () figure. The name Tarf, which is not in common usage, is derived from the Arabic Al Tarf meaning 'the End', i.e. the end of the Crab's leg. The name was approved by the IAU in June 2018.

From September 13th-14th Venus passed about 2°.3 South of the open cluster called Praesepe or The Beehive Cluster (M44 or NGC 2632). Under dark, rural skies it is visible to the naked-eye as a hazy patch of light and in city locations it is easily seen in binoculars (for a fuller description of this cluster, see the Zodiacal Sky: Cancer, Leo and Virgo page). Venus took some 19 hours to traverse the angular width of the cluster, which measures 1°.5 in diameter (three times the apparent width of the Full Moon) and contains around 75 stars.

On September 14th Venus passed 1° South of Asellus Australis ( Cnc or Delta Cancri, mag. +3.9), one of two stars which flank Praesepe on its Eastern side - the other being Asellus Borealis ( Cnc or Gamma Cancri, mag. +4.6), located 3º.3 further North. The planet passed 4º.6 North of Acubens ( Cnc or Alpha Cancri, mag. +4.3), at the South-eastern corner of the constellation, on September 17th.

On September 20th at around 15 hours UT Venus was positioned at precisely 1.0000 AU from the Earth, i.e. the same distance as the average distance of the Earth from the Sun (149.5 million kms or 92.9 million statute miles). At this point in the apparition the distance between Venus and the Earth was increasing at an average rate of about 1.07 million kms (667,500 statute miles) per day.

Venus entered Leo, the Lion, on September 22nd, crossing to the North of the ecliptic on September 26th. The planet passed 4°.0 North of the star Subra ( Leo or Omicron Leonis, mag. +3.5), which marks the paw of the Lion's foreleg, on September 27th. Between September 28th and October 5th Venus was positioned South of the asterism (star pattern) commonly known as the Sickle of Leo, at the Western end of the Lion, which appears to the naked-eye as a backward question-mark (). The planet passed 10° South of the star Ras Elased Australis ( Leo or Epsilon Leonis, mag. +2.9), at the upper North-western end ('pointed end') of the sickle, on September 28th.

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At the base of the Sickle of Leo (the 'dot' of the backward question-mark) is Leo's brightest star, Regulus ( Leo or Alpha Leonis, mag. +1.3). Venus passed just 5'.5 (0º.1) South of the star at 2340 UT on October 2nd. Regulus is positioned less than 0°.5 North of the ecliptic so it is occasionally occulted by planets and - more frequently - by the Moon. Venus last occulted Regulus in July 1959 and will next occult the star during its morning apparition in October 2044.

In early October Venus shone at magnitude -4.1, almost one half-magnitude fainter than it had shone on its greatest brilliance day three months earlier. The planet's solar elongation had reduced to 40º and its apparent diameter was around 15" - a little over one-quarter of it's apparent size at the start of the appariton. Telescopes revealed a notably gibbous phase, around 70% illuminated. With the planet now heading Southwards along the ecliptic, the position of Venus along the local horizon at dawn began to move noticeably further Southwards with each passing week.

On October 5th Venus passed 8°.8 South of the star Algieba (¹ Leo or Gamma-1 Leonis, mag. +2.3), at the base of the Lion's neck (although the name is Arabic for 'the forehead'). It is a double star with golden-yellow components (¹ Leo and ² Leo) of magnitudes +2.3 and +3.6, separated by an angular distance of 4".7. The pair are about 130 light years from Earth and they orbit each other in a period of 554 years. The star is easily split in small telescopes and is considered to be one of the finest double stars in the night sky. An exoplanet was detected orbiting Algieba in 2009, named Gamma-1 Leonis b. Its mass is equivalent to 8.8 Jupiter masses and it orbits the star at a distance of 1.2 AU in a period of 428 days.

Venus passed 9°.2 South of the star Chertan ( Leo or Theta Leonis, mag. +3.3), at the top of the Lion's rear leg, on October 17th. Prior to IAU standardisation in 2016 the star was also known as Coxa or Chort. At the same moment the planet passed 14°.3 South of the star Zosma ( Leo or Delta Leonis, mag. +2.7), at the rump of the Lion. The planet passed 31' (0°.5) South of the star Leo (Sigma Leonis, mag. +4.0), at the foot of the Lion's hind leg, on October 19th.

At 03 hours UT on October 22nd Venus passed 16°.4 to the South of the newly-named star Formosa, positioned just to the North of the Lion's rump. At magnitude +6.4, it is on the threshold of naked-eye visibility from dark sky sites. Its astronomical coordinates are RA = 11h 35m 3s and  = +20°.44 and it is also known by the designations HD 100655 and BSC4459. The name was approved by the IAU in December 2019, just one of many results of their campaign entitled NameExoWorlds, which celebrated the 100th year of the organistaion. The campaign invited participants from around the world to submit names for exoplanets and their host stars. Formosa is named after the historical name of Taiwan, in use during the 17th century; it is Latin for 'beautiful'. The exoplanet orbiting the star (HD 100655 b), discovered in 2011, is named Sazum, after the township Yuchi; it means 'water' in the language of the local Thao people.

Venus entered Virgo, the Virgin, on October 22nd, passing 0º.8 North of the star Zavijava ( Vir or Beta Virginis, mag. +3.6), at the back of the Maiden's head, on October 25th. Before IAU standardization in 2016 the star was also known by the names Zavijah, Zavyava or Alaraph.

Venus passed through perihelion (its closest orbital point to the Sun) on October 30th, when it was 107.4 million kms (66.7 million miles) from the Sun. The planet crossed to the South of the celestial equator ( = 0°) on the following day (October 31st), meaning that the planet now rose due East across the inhabited world.

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On November 1st Venus passed 16' (0º.26) North of the star Zaniah ( Vir or Eta Virginis, mag. +3.8), which is positioned at the rear of the Maiden's head.

In early November, Venus, now magnitude -4.0, was again joined in the dawn sky by the planet Mercury (mag. +1.0) in the second paired apparition between the two planets during Venus' 2020-21 morning apparition. Owing to the steep angle of the ecliptic to the Eastern horizon at dawn at this time of year, this apparition favoured Northern hemisphere observers.

On November 4th, Venus passed 3°.7 North of the star 25 Virginis (mag. +5.8), another star which the planet will occult at a future date - in this case, during its evening apparition in 2026. On November 5th the planet passed 5°.6 North of the star  Vir (Chi Virginis, mag. +4.6), which was found to have an exoplanet in 2009. Named Chi Virginis b, the planet is thought to have a mass equivalent to 11 Jupiter masses and orbits Chi Virginis at a distance of 2.1 AU in a period of 835 days. Chi Virginis is the brightest Virgoan star currently known to have exoplanets.

Gibbous Venus An infra-red image taken 'in poorish seeing' by Martin R Lewis of St Albans, England, UK on April 20th 2019 (click on the thumbnail for a larger image, 3 KB). Lewis used an 8½-inch (222mm) Dobsonian telescope fitted with a CMOS camera (Image: Martin R Lewis / ALPO-Japan)

On November 6th Venus passed 1º.2 South of the star Porrima ( Vir or Gamma Virginis, mag. +2.8), named after one of the Roman goddesses of prophecy. It is a binary star comprising components of magnitude +3.4 and +3.5, appearing to the naked-eye as a single star of magnitude +2.9. The pair orbit each other in a period of 169 years, their separation varying greatly throughout. They came closest together around 2006, when they were just 0".4 apart, making them difficult to separate in anything but the largest of telescopes. Currently 2".9 apart, the pair are widening and are becoming easier to separate in amateur telescopes, aligned North-South in relation to each other. Before IAU standardization in 2016 Porrima was also known as Arich (a name whose origin appears to be shrouded in mystery) or Postvarta, which appears to have been a variation of Postverta (or Postvorta), the Roman goddess of childbirth and the past.

Mercury reached greatest elongation on November 10th, when it was 19º.1 West of the Sun. It now shone at magnitude -0.5 and was positioned 13°.2 to the ESE of Venus. The waning crescent Moon passed by the two planets over a three-day period commencing November 12th.

At 0541 UT on November 12th Venus passed just 1'.5 (0º.02) North of the double star  Vir (Theta Virginis, mag. +4.4), located at the base of the Maiden's neck. The planet will occult this star in November 2044, three Venus 'cycles' into the future. On November 14th the planet passed 12° North of the star 61 Virginis (mag. +4.7), a star which, in 2009, was found to have two - and possibly three - exoplanets. All three planets (61 Virginis b, c and d) orbit the star at a distance which would place them within the equivalent orbit of Venus in our own Solar System. The innermost planet (b) orbits the star in just 4 days and is most likely rocky (terrestrial) in nature, whilst the other two are considered more likely to be gas giants, similar in composition to Uranus and Neptune. At 28 light years distant, 61 Virginis is one of the closest stars to Earth which is known to have exoplanets.

With the crescent Moon still in the vicinty of Mercury and Venus on the 14th, the two planets came closest together for this paired apparition, Mercury (mag. -0.6) being positioned 12º to the ESE of Venus.

On November 15th Venus passed 4º.1 North of Virgo's brightest star Spica ( Vir or Alpha Virginis, mag. +1.0), a blue-white star which dominates the South-eastern region of the constellation. On November 20th Venus passed 8°.0 North of 89 Virginis (mag. +4.9), which the planet will occult during its evening apparition in 2042.

From the third week of November, Mercury headed out of view from the dawn sky, leaving Venus as the only major planet now visible in the morning sky. Venus passed 1°.3 South of the star Kang ( Vir or Kappa Virginis, mag. +4.2) on November 25th. In Chinese astronomy Kang was both a constellation and a name given to the second lunar mansion. The name was formerly approved by the IAU in 2017.

Venus left Virgo and entered Libra, the Balance (or Scales), on November 27th.

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On December 3rd Venus passed 1º.3 North of the double star Zubenelgenubi (² Lib or Alpha² Librae, mag. +2.8) and, on December 6th, 9º.7 North of the star Brachium ( Lib or Sigma Librae, mag. +3.3). Telescopically Venus now appeared 89% illuminated with an apparent size of 11".6. With the solar elongation having reduced below 30º, the planet appeared much lower in the sky than it had been a few months previous. At mid-Northern latitudes, half an hour before sunrise, Venus appeared just 15º above the horizon, less than half the altitude it had been in late August. At mid-Southern latitudes, some 30 minutes before sunrise, the planet was even lower (ca. 11º high) over the ESE horizon. In the Northern hemisphere, the month of December saw Venus' altitude above the horizon fall off rapidly day-by-day as it heads in towards the Sun.

The planet passed 7º.2 South of the star Zubeneschamali ( Lib or Beta Librae, mag. +2.5), the Northernmost star of the Balance figure, on December 8th. The late astronomer Sir Patrick Moore once described Zubeneschamali as being 'the only naked-eye star which is said to have a greenish tint - though most observers will certainly class it as white!'.

At 1430 UT on December 12th, Venus passed 3º South of the star Zubenelhakrabi ( Lib or Gamma Librae, mag. +4.0) a name which was alternatively spelled Zuben Elakrab before IAU standardisation in 2017. It is commonly said to mean 'claw of the Scorpion' although it originates from a much earlier Sumerian name meaning 'balance of heaven'. The reference to the Scorpion derives from the fact that the ancient Greeks considered the stars in this region of the sky to be part of Scorpius, the Scorpion, before the Romans divided them into two separate constellations.

Some 6½ hours after passing Zubenelhakrabi, the second of two lunar occultations of Venus' morning apparition took place. At around 21 hours UT the 26-day old waning crescent Moon blocked the planet from view, an event which was visible in twilight just after local Moonrise from the North-eastern tip of Russia and from Northern Alaska, USA. Details of this event can be seen by following the link in the Moon near Venus Dates section below.

Venus passed 2º.2 South of the star  Lib (Theta Librae, mag. +4.1), in Eastern central Libra, on December 16th. At 0440 UT on December 17th the planet passed 6º.8 North of the star Fang ( Sco or Pi Scorpii, mag. +2.8) in the neighbouring constellation of Scorpius, the Scorpion; specifically in the head of the Scorpion. The name was formally assigned to the star by the IAU in 2017 after the fourth lunar mansion in ancient Chinese astronomy. In ancient China the four stars that we now consider to form the head of the Scorpion (¹ Sco,  Sco, Sco and Sco) were known as Fáng (‘Room’), the name of Sco in particular (Fáng Xiù) translating as "the First Star of Room". At 1130 UT that same day Venus passed 3º.3 North of the star Dschubba ( Sco or Delta Scorpii, mag. +2.2), also in Scorpius; the planet entered the constellation 8 hours later, at about 1950 UT.

Venus passed 10'.7 (0°.18) North of the striking double star Acrab (¹ Sco or Beta-1 Scorpii, combined mag. +2.6) at around 1030 UT on December 18th. Before IAU standardisation in 2016 the star was alternatively called Graffias, a name which is thought to refer to a crab's claws and is therefore, synonymous with those of a scorpion. The star's two blue-white components (¹ Sco and ² Sco), of magnitudes +2.6 and +4.9 respectively, are separated by 13".7 and are easily seen in small telescopes. Beta-1 Scorpii is itself also double, having a tenth-magnitude companion positioned less than an arcsecond away, separable only in larger telescopes.

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Later on December 18th, between 1645 UT and 1930 UT, Venus passed 1º North of the two Omegan stars Jabhat al Akrab (¹ Sco or Omega-1 Scorpii, mag. +3.9) and Omega-2 Scorpii (² Sco, mag. +4.3). Together with Dschubba, Acrab and the quadruple star named Jabbah ( Sco or Nu Scorpii, mag. +4.0), they form a distinctive asterism in Northern Scorpius. Venus passed 30' (0º.5) South of Jabbah on the following day (19th).

On December 21st Venus passed 5º.2 North of the variable star named Alniyat ( Sco or Sigma Scorpii, mag. +2.9v). Later that same day the planet entered the non-zodiacal constellation of Ophiuchus, the Serpent-Bearer. On December 22nd, at about 1945 UT, the planet passed 7º.3 South of a magnitude +6.9 star in South-eastern Ophiuchus which received a new name in late 2019. The star, which is easily seen in binoculars, is named Timir (it is also known under lengthy catalogue designations such as HD 148427, HIP 80687 or BD-13 4437). For the curious, its astronomical coordinates are: RA = 16h 28m 28s,  = -13º.39. Like the star Formosa in Leo (see above), the name was selected as a result of the IAU's NameExoWorlds campaign. Timir means 'darkness' in the Bengali language, alluding to the star being far away in the darkness of space. Timir's exoplanet (HD 148427 b) is named Tondra, which means 'nap' in Bengali, alluding to the symbolic notion that the planet was 'asleep' until it was discovered (in 2009).

Also on December 21st, on the opposite side of the Sun some 53º to the ESE of Venus, the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn passed each other in the night sky for the first time since May 2000. Visible in the dusk sky in the constellation of Capricornus, the Sea Goat, they were separated by just 0º.1, which was their closest passage in almost four centuries; such an event is called a planetary conjunction. For details on the observability of this 'Great Conjunction', see the Jupiter or Saturn pages. Venus is regularly involved in planetary conjunctions, although only one of them took place during the 2020-21 morning apparition: at the very end of the period, in February 2021.

On December 23rd Venus passed 5º.7 North of Scorpius' brightest star, the orange-red Antares ( Sco or Alpha Scorpii, mag. +1.0v); its Latin name refers to the star's colour similarity to the planet Mars.

Over the following 12 days Venus passed to the North of five stars in Scorpius which were formally assigned 'new' names by the IAU in 2017 and 2018 (they are labelled in yellow-green on the star map here). All five are located in the tail of Scorpius and none of them can be seen from latitudes North of 55° North since they never rise above the horizon from these latitudes. On December 24th Venus passed 7º.2 North of the star Paikauhale ( Sco or Tau Scorpii, mag. +2.8), a name which is Hawaii'an for a vagabond. On December 26th the planet passed 12º.7 North of the star Larawag ( Sco or Epsilon Scorpii, mag. +2.2), positioned about half-way along the Scorpion's tail, which is an Aboriginal name from the Wardaman culture of Northern Australia.

On December 27th Venus passed 16º.2 North of the stars Xamidimura (¹ Sco or Mu-1 Scorpii, mag. +2.9) and Pipirima (² Sco or Mu-2 Scorpii, mag. +3.5), which are located 3º.5 South of Larawag. The two stars are separated in the night sky by just 5'.7 (0º.1), making them appear as a double star, however this is a line-of-sight effect and they are not physically related. Xamidimura is an eclipsing binary of the Beta Lyrae variable star type whilst Pipirima is a blue-white subgiant star. Xamidimura is the historical name given to the star by the Khoikhoi people of South Africa; it means 'eyes of the lion'. The name Pipirima comes from Polynesian mythology. It refers to a Tahitian story of two inseparable twins (Pipirima and Réhua) who fled from their parents and became stars in the night sky.

On December 30th Venus passed 6º.4 South of the star Sabik ( Oph or Eta Ophiuchi, mag. +2.5), the second brightest star in Ophiuchus. The name is Arabic and translates as 'the preceding one'. On December 31st the planet passed 4º.3 North of the star Guniibuu (36 Oph A or 36 Ophiuchi A, mag. +5.1), another star assigned a 'new' name by the IAU in this region of the night sky. It is an Australian Aboriginal name meaning a robin red-breast, derived from Euahlayi-Kamilaroi culture. Guniibuu is one component of a pair of orange dwarf stars (A and B) which are easily split in small telescopes.

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With the arrival of the new year, observers at high-Northern latitudes began to have difficulty detecting Venus, which was now rising in twilight just 1½ hours ahead of sunrise, the planet's solar elongation having reduced to 20°. The planet had also faded slightly further to magnitude -3.9. In the Southern hemisphere, the planet's altitude above the horizon at any given duration before sunrise would fall away quickly during January.

On January 1st Venus passed 2º.5 North of Ophiuchus' Southernmost bright star Oph (Theta Ophiuchi, mag. +3.2). On older star maps the stars Oph and Guniibuu were depicted as marking the ankle of the Serpent-Bearer.

To the South of Ophiuchus the Scorpion's tail curves around to the East and North-east, deep within an area rich in Milky Way galaxy stars. Venus passed 14º.7 North of the star Lesath ( Sco or Upsilon Scorpii, mag. +2.6) on January 3rd and 14°.4 North of the star Shaula ( Sco or Lambda Scorpii, mag. +1.6) on January 14th. Together these two stars form the 'sting' at the end of the Scorpion's tail.

On January 4th Venus passed 7º.4 South of the star Ser (Xi Serpentis, mag. +3.5), positioned 6º.5 to the East of the aforementioned Ophiuchan star Sabik and at the South-eastern corner of a trapezoidal arrangement of third and fourth-magnitude stars. Located in the constellation of Serpens Cauda, the Serpent's Tail, the other two stars are Ser (Omicron Serpentis, mag. +4.2) at the North-eastern corner of the trapezoid and Ser (Nu Serpentis, mag. +4.3) at the North-western corner. This is, of course, the tail section of the serpent, which the Serpent-Bearer is holding. Venus left Ophiuchus and entered the Southernmost zodiac constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer, on January 5th.

On January 7th Venus passed 14º.1 North of the fifth star in Scorpius' tail to be assigned a 'new' formal name by the IAU. Fuyue (G Scorpii, mag. +3.2) is positioned at the tail-end of the Scorpion. Fu Yue was a Chinese labourer who became a wise minister and a chancellor of the Emperor Wu Ding (ca. 1250-1192 BC) of the Shang dynasty. After Fu Yue's death he is said to have become part of a constellation known as The Sieve, situated in the Tail mansion (Wei Xiù) in ancient Chinese astronomy.

On January 12th Venus attained its most Southerly declination for this apparition at -23º 10' 44" (-23°.179 in decimal format). Across the world, the planet now rose at its most Southerly point along the local Eastern horizon. This will typically be towards the South-east at latitudes far away from the Equator and towards the ESE at Equatorial latitudes.

Over the course of the next fortnight, Venus passed several degrees North of Sagittarius' famous asterism, the Teapot, which comprises eight stars of third-magnitude or brighter (although since the constellation was only now beginning to emerge into the dawn sky, they were not all visible at this time of the year). On January 9th Venus passed 7º.2 North of the star Alnasl ( Sgr or Gamma Sagittarii, mag. +3.0), positioned at the front of the Archer's bow. Prior to IAU standardisation in 2016 it was variously known by the names Nash or Alnasr, among others. On January 11th the planet passed 2º.1 South of the star Polis ( Sgr or Mu Sagittarii, mag. +3.8v), positioned just to the North-west of the Teapot. It is an eclipsing binary star with a tiny brightness variation of ±0.1 magnitudes.

On January 12th Venus passed 6º.7 North of the star Kaus Media ( Sgr or Delta Sagittarii, mag. +2.7), positioned at the centre of the Archer's bow. Before IAU standardisation it was also known by the names Kaus Meridionalis and Kaus Medius. On January 13th the planet passed 11º.2 North of Sagittarius' brightest star Kaus Australis ( Sgr or Epsilon Sagittarii, mag. +1.8). Given that it was designated the Greek letter epsilon, one might expect Kaus Australis to be the fifth-brightest star in the constellation. However, it is one of many examples in the night sky where the brightest star in the constellation was not assigned the correct letter - namely, alpha ().

Later on January 13th, the planet passed 2º.2 North of the star Kaus Borealis ( Sgr or Lambda Sagittarii, mag. +2.8) which marks the top of the Teapot asterism (and the top of the Archer's bow). The name Kaus is Arabic for 'bow', its Northern and Southern sections (Borealis and Australis) being later Latin additions.

Venus crossed to the South of the ecliptic on January 16th. Observers at mid-Northern latitudes began to have difficulty detecting the planet from around this time. From 50° North latitude, Venus was now rising in the South-east just 1 hour ahead of the Sun, barely reaching an altitude of 5° above the horizon before disappearing into the brightening twilight.

By the time the planet's solar elongation fell below 15º on January 24th, Venus was again rising in twilight across the inhabited world.

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Venus entered Capricornus, the Sea Goat, on February 1st. Observers at Northern Tropical latitudes now saw Venus rising just 40 minutes before sunrise, the planet appearing lower above the ESE horizon with each passing day.

On February 6th Venus passed 0°.4 South of the planet Saturn (mag. +0.6), however the narrow solar elongation of 12° rendered the ringed planet unobservable in the bright dawn twilight. Saturn's 2021 apparition would begin within the next couple of weeks.

On February 11th, at the closing stage of the apparition, Venus was involved in a planetary conjunction - the only one of the apparition which was observable. However, because of the narrow solar elongation it was a difficult one to observe and was visible only from Equatorial and Southerly latitudes. Venus passed 0°.4 to the South of Jupiter which, like Saturn, was now emerging into the dawn sky at the very start of its 2021 apparition. For more details on this single conjunction, see the planetary conjunctions section below.

By mid-February Equatorial and Southern latitudes saw Venus rising in the East some 50 minutes ahead of the Sun, the planet rapidly losing altitude above the horizon as its solar elongation fell below 10°. On February 13th the planet passed 4°.5 to the South of Mercury (mag. +2.8) as the latter planet moved retrograde through the Western section of Aquarius, the Water Bearer. Again, the narrow solar elongation rendered Mercury unobservable; it would become visible in the dawn sky within the next few days, the first of the planet's six apparitions in 2021.

Venus ended the 2020-21 morning apparition shining at nearly the same apparent magnitude (-3.8) as when it had entered the morning sky in the previous June, the planet now showing a 98% illuminated disk measuring just 10" across. Venus became lost from view in the dawn twilight as it approached the Capricornian boundary with Aquarius, which it entered on February 23rd.

On March 14th Venus passed only 24' (0º.4) South of the planet Neptune (mag. +7.9) in an unobservable planetary conjunction positioned only 3°.4 from the Sun. At this time the two planets were just 1º.5 South of the Aquarian border with Pisces, the Fishes.

Venus entered Pisces on March 17th and reached superior conjunction (passing behind the Sun as seen from the Earth) near the central Pisces-Cetus border on March 26th. At the moment of conjunction the planet was positioned 1°.3 South of the Sun. Venus was now at a very distant 1.7312 AU (258.9 million kms or 160.9 million miles) from the Earth. Were it to have been visible from the Earth at this point, Venus would have had an apparent diameter of just 9".7 and it would have shone at magnitude -3.8.

Having passed from the morning to the evening sky, Venus remained out of view - lost in the solar glare - for over a month, as it made its slow passage on the far side of its orbit from the Earth. The planet became visible once again from around early May 2021, when it was seen shortly after sunset from Equatorial latitudes as an 'Evening Star' in the Western sky, heralding a new evening apparition (2021-22) which lasted through to January 2022.

 [Terms in yellow italics are explained in greater detail in an associated article describing planetary movements in the night sky.]

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Venus Conjunctions with other Planets:

Morning Apparition, 2020-21

A Venusian apparition typically involves three or four observable planetary conjunctions, however the planet's 2020-21 morning apparition was unusual in that it only had one: on February 11th 2021, when Venus passed 0°.4 to the South of Jupiter. The conjunction took place very late in the apparition, when Venus was only days away from disappearing into the bright dawn twilight. Because of the narrow solar elongation of 11° the conjunction was only visible from Equatorial and Southerly latitudes, where the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun, which the Moon and planets follow closely) presented a steep angle to the horizon at dawn at this time of year. The conjunction occurred just as Jupiter (mag. -1.8) was emerging into the dawn sky at the start of its 2021 apparition. But even from optimal latitudes the conjunction was seen low above the ESE horizon and was difficult to view. As the fainter planet (Jupiter) disappeared from view in the twilight, observers situated between latitudes 25° and 35° South saw the two planets attain an altitude of only 6° above the horizon, while at the Equator and latitude 45° South the pair were less than 5° high. In practice, observers had less than 20 minutes in which to observe the conjunction. Also becoming visible some 6° to the ESE of the pair, having risen a little earlier, was the planet Saturn (mag. +0.6) which was now at the start of its own 2021 apparition.

The only planetary conjunction involving Venus which was observable during the 2020-21 morning apparition is summarised in the table below.

Venus conjunctions with other planets during the 2020-21 morning apparition (click on the thumbnail for the full-size table, 18 KB) The column headed 'UT' is the Universal Time (equivalent to GMT) of the conjunction (in hrs : mins). The separation (column 'Sep') is the angular distance between the two planets, measured relative to Venus, e.g. on 2021 Feb 11 Jupiter was positioned 0°.4 North of Venus at the time shown. The 'Fav. Hem' column shows the Hemisphere in which the conjunction was best observed (Northern, Southern and/or Equatorial). The 'Con' column shows the constellation in which the planets were positioned at the time of the conjunction.

Although any given conjunction takes place at a particular instant in time, it is worth pointing out that, because of the planets' relatively slow daily motions, such events are interesting to observe for several days both before and after the actual conjunction date.

There are in fact two methods of defining a planetary conjunction date: one is measured in Right Ascension (i.e. perpendicular to the celestial equator) and the other is measured along the ecliptic, which is inclined at 23½° to the Earth's equatorial plane (this is due to the tilt of the Earth's axis in space). An animation showing how conjunction dates are determined by each method can be found on the Jupiter-Uranus 2010-11 triple conjunction page. Although conjunction dates measured along the ecliptic are technically more accurate (separations between planets can be significantly closer) the Right Ascension method is the more commonly used, and it is the one which is adopted here.

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Moon near Venus Dates,

June 2020 to March 2021

The Moon is easy to find, and on one or two days in each month, it passes Venus in the sky. Use the following tables to see on which dates the Moon passed near the planet between June 2020 and March 2021:

The Moon moves relatively quickly against the background stars in an Eastward direction, at about its own angular width (0º.5) each hour (about 12º.2 per day). Because it is relatively close to the Earth, an effect called parallax causes it to appear in a slightly different position (against the background stars) when seen from any two locations on the globe at any given instant; the further apart the locations, the greater the Moon's apparent displacement against the background stars. Therefore, for any given date and time listed in the table, the Moon will have appeared closer to Venus when seen from some locations than others. For this reason, the dates shown in the table should be used only for general guidance.

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Credits

• The dates of Venus' constellation boundary crossings and its directions, altitudes and visibility durations were determined from the commercial software RedShift 5 by Maris Technologies Ltd. The times and separations of the lunar conjunctions with Venus (Moon near Venus dates) were obtained using the software's 'Conjunctions' option of the 'Sky Diary'.
• The perihelion date of Venus was obtained from the website The Sky and Its Phenomena by Italian amateur astronomer Pierpaolo Ricci. Planetary conjunction details were obtained from his Planetary Conjunctions page. Future dates of stellar occultations by Venus were obtained from his Stellar Occultations page and the most Southerly declination of the planet during the apparition was obtained from his Extreme Declinations page.
• Information on the cultural origins of the IAU's 'newly-named' stars were obtained from the following sources: Kang and Fang: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales website entries for Virgo and Scorpius, respectively, with supplementary information on Fang from Wikipedia's Pi Scorpii page. Chamukuy, Larawag, Xamidimura and Pipirima: UniverseToday.com, with supplementary information on Pipirima from Wikipedia's Mu-2 Scorpii page. Tianguan: Wikipedia's Zeta Tauri page. Paikauhale and Guniibuu: IAU's WGSN FAQ page. Fuyue: Wikipedia's G Scorpii and Fu Yue pages. Formosa and Timir: IAU's NameExoWorlds page.
• Information on the origins of other historical star names were obtained from the "Dictionary of Astronomical Names" by Adrian Room (Routledge, London and New York, 1988).

Copyright  Martin J Powell  June 2020