Click to visit Home page

Google Adsense Privacy Policy

Contact Webmaster

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration of Venus after Sunset, June- December 2013:

Look-up Tables

Horizon Diagrams

2013 Evening Apparition Data

Venus Conjunctions with other Planets, 2013

Moon near Venus Dates, June 2013 to January 2014

Venus Through the Telescope

The Venus Morning Apparition of 2012-13

Mobile Site

Star chart showing the paths of Venus, Mercury and Saturn through the zodiac constellations for the latter part of Venus' evening apparition in 2013-14. Click for full-size image (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The paths of Venus, Mercury and Saturn through the zodiac constellations for the latter part of Venus' evening apparition in 2013-14 (click on the thumbnail for the full-size image). The earlier part of the planets' apparition is shown in the chart below. Positions of Venus and Mercury are plotted for 0 hrs Universal Time (UT) at 5-day intervals; those of Saturn are for the 1st day of each month.

Both evening and morning apparitions of Mercury are included. Wherever a planet was too close to the Sun to view, the path is shown by a dashed line (- -). Hence Mercury's evening apparition ended around late October 2013 when it became lost from view in the dusk twilight. The planet was then not visible for about 2 weeks before it re-emerged in the morning sky around mid-November. Because Mercury is mostly seen under twilit conditions, many of the fainter stars shown in the planet's vicinity may not have been visible when the planet itself was observed.

For Venus, apparition data for the dates shown in bright white (at 10-day intervals) are included in the table below. The positions at which Venus and Mercury attained greatest elongation from the Sun are indicated by the letters 'GE', with the solar elongation angle in brackets. Eastern elongations apply for evening apparitions and Western elongations for morning apparitions (the elongation of Venus is Easterly throughout the chart coverage). The position at which Venus attained greatest brilliancy for this apparition (apparent magnitude = -4.6) is shown by the letters 'GB'. Note that the September-October 2013 evening apparition of Mercury shown on the chart favoured Southern hemisphere observers (who should refer to the Southern hemisphere chart for a more appropriate orientation) whilst the November morning apparition favoured Northern hemisphere observers.

A planetary conjunction between Venus and Saturn took place on September 20th 2013; for more details see the planetary conjunctions section below. The path of Saturn on this chart is excerpted from the Saturn 2006-13 chart.

The faintest stars shown have an apparent magnitude of about +4.8. Printer-friendly versions of this chart are available for Northern and Southern hemisphere views. Astronomical co-ordinates of Right Ascension (longitude, measured Eastwards in hrs:mins) and Declination (latitude, measured in degrees North or South of the celestial equator) are marked around the border of the chart.

The Venus Evening Apparition of 2013-2014

by Martin J. Powell

Following superior conjunction on March 26th 2013 (when it passed directly behind the Sun in the constellation of Pisces) Venus' 2013-14 apparition as an 'Evening Star' commenced as the planet emerged in the dusk sky around late April 2013. Equatorial latitudes were the first to see it, low down in the Western sky shortly after sunset. Northern latitudes began to detect the planet from around late April (at 30° North), early May (50° North) and mid-May (60° North). Southern latitudes detected the planet from around late April (at 15° South), early May (25° South) and mid-May (45° South). The planet was moving in an Easterly direction (direct or prograde) through the constellations of Aries, the Ram and Taurus, the Bull, at this time.

Venus entered Taurus on May 4th and attained a 10° solar elongation (i.e. 10° East of the Sun) on May 6th. From May 8th-9th, the planet passed 4°.5 South of the open star cluster known as the Pleiades (pronounced variously as 'PLY-add-eez' or 'PLEE-add-eez') in North-western Taurus, also known by the designation Messier 45 (M45).

Venus crossed the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun, Moon and planets), heading North, on May 10th. The following day it passed 8°.3 North of the star Greek lower-case letter 'lambda' Tau (Lambda Tauriapparent magnitude +3.4).

Between May 15th and 18th the planet passed some 6°.1 North of the Hyades star cluster, a 'V-shaped' collection of stars defining the head of the Bull. At the South-eastern corner of the 'V' is the star Aldebaran (Greek lower-case letter 'alpha' Tau or Alpha Tauri, mag. +1.1), the constellation's brightest star. Although it appears to be part of the cluster it is not in fact a true member of the cluster; its position in the 'V' is a line-of-sight effect. Venus passed 5°.8 North of Aldebaran on May 18th.

Details of the star clusters, nebulae and interesting stars of Taurus can be found on the Zodiacal Sky page covering the constellations of Aries, Taurus and Gemini.

At this early stage of the apparition, when seen through a telescope, the planet showed a broad gibbous phase, around 97% illuminated, shining at an apparent magnitude of -3.8 and measuring only around 10" across (i.e. 10 arcseconds, where 1" = 1/60th of an arcminute or 1/3600 of a degree). Its low altitude, great distance from the Earth and small apparent size made it a difficult object to observe telescopically, with no detail being visible in its clouds.

From around May 20th, the planet Mercury approached Venus from the West, the two planets being around 14° from the SunMercury's rapid apparent motion caused it to gain on Venus by about 0°.8 per day. On May 25th Mercury (at magnitude -0.8) caught up with Venus (mag. -3.8) passing 1°.4 to the North of it. This was the first of two planetary conjunctions which the two planets underwent during the 2013-14 evening apparition. At this time the bright planet Jupiter (mag. -1.8) was positioned some 4° to the ESE of the pair (see the planetary conjunctions section below for further details). These three planets changed their relative positions over the next several days, providing an interesting 'planetary gathering' for those observers whose latitude allowed them to see it best.

From around May 25th-28th, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter formed a triangular grouping low in the North-western sky after sunset, the planets being just 16° to the East of the Sun. Venus had been gaining on the much slower-moving Jupiter by about 1° per day, both planets moving direct (West to East) against the background stars. The second of four planetary conjunctions involving Venus took place on May 28th, the planet passing 1° to the North of Jupiter.

On May 27th the planet passed 4°.7 South of the star Al Nath or El Nath (Greek lower-case letter 'beta' Ari or Beta Tauri, mag. +1.6) which marks the tip of the Bull's Northern horn. This is one of only a few stars in the night sky which are shared with a neighbouring constellation - in this case with Auriga, the Charioteer, where it is known as Gamma Aurigae (Greek lower-case letter 'gamma' Aur), the constellation's most Southerly star.

Two days later (May 29th) Venus passed 3° North of the star Zeta Tauri (Greek lower-case letter 'zeta'Tau, mag. +2.9), which marks the tip of the Bull's Southern horn. The planet joined the Chart 1 coverage on May 30th, shortly before entering Gemini, the Twins.

At the close of the month Venus, Mercury and Jupiter formed a near-straight line some 6°.6 long from East to West, in North-eastern Taurus. Jupiter became increasingly difficult to view over the next number of days as its 2012-13 apparition drew to a close. Venus crossed into Gemini on June 3rd. The line between the three planets now stretched to some 11° from East to West, the planets straddling Taurus and Gemini.

On June 5th Venus passed 1°.9 North of the star Propus (Greek lower-case letter 'eta' Gem or Eta Geminorum, mag. +3.5), the Westernmost bright star of Gemini.

Date

Constellation

Apparent

Magnitude

Apparent

Diameter

(arcsecs)

View from

Earth

(0h UT)

(North up)

Distance (AU)*

Solar

Elongation

Illuminated

Phase

from Earth

from Sun

2013

Jun 4

Astrological symbol of Gemini

Gem

-3.8

10".3

View of Venus from Earth on June 4th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.6169

0.7186

17ºE

95%

Jun 14

Astrological symbol of Gemini

Gem

-3.8

10".6

View of Venus from Earth on June 14th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.5794

0.7184

20ºE

94%

Jun 24

Astrological symbol of Gemini

Gem

-3.8

10".9

View of Venus from Earth on June 24th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.5365

0.7186

23ºE

92%

Jul 4

Astrological symbol of Cancer

Cnc

-3.8

11".2

View of Venus from Earth on July 4th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.4886

0.7192

25ºE

90%

Jul 14

Astrological symbol of Leo

Leo

-3.8

11".6

View of Venus from Earth on July 14th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.4359

0.7201

28ºE

87%

Jul 24

Astrological symbol of Leo

Leo

-3.8

12".1

View of Venus from Earth on July 24th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.3788

0.7212

30ºE

85%

Aug 3

Astrological symbol of Leo

Leo

-3.8

12".7

View of Venus from Earth on August 3rd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.3180

0.7225

33ºE

82%

Aug 13

Astrological symbol for Virgo

Vir

-3.8

13".3

View of Venus from Earth on August 13th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.2539

0.7239

35ºE

79%

Aug 23

Astrological symbol for Virgo

Vir

-3.9

14".1

View of Venus from Earth on August 23rd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.1868

0.7252

37ºE

76%

Sep 2

Astrological symbol for Virgo

Vir

-3.9

15".0

View of Venus from Earth on September 2nd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.1173

0.7264

39ºE

73%

Sep 12

Astrological symbol for Virgo

Vir

-3.9

16".0

View of Venus from Earth on September 12th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

1.0457

0.7273

41ºE

70%

Sep 22

Astrological symbol for Libra

Lib

-4.0

17".2

View of Venus from Earth on September 22nd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.9724

0.7279

43ºE

67%

Oct 2

Astrological symbol for Libra

Lib

-4.0

18".6

View of Venus from Earth on October 2nd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.8979

0.7282

45ºE

63%

Oct 12

Astrological symbol for Scorpius

Sco

-4.1

20".3

View of Venus from Earth on October 12th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.8223

0.7281

46ºE

59%

Oct 22

 

Oph

-4.2

22".4

View of Venus from Earth on October 22nd 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.7460

0.7276

46ºE

54%

Nov 1

 

Oph

-4.3

25".0

View of Venus from Earth on November 1st 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.6696

0.7268

47ºE

50%

Nov 11

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.3

28".2

View of Venus from Earth on November 11th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.5936

0.7257

47ºE

44%

Nov 21

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.4

32".3

View of Venus from Earth on November 21st 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.5189

0.7244

45ºE

38%

Dec 1

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.5

37".4

View of Venus from Earth on December 1st 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.4472

0.7231

42ºE

31%

Dec 11

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.5

44".0

View of Venus from Earth on December 11th 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.3808

0.7217

37ºE

22%

Dec 21

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.5

51".7

View of Venus from Earth on December 21st 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.3238

0.7205

29ºE

13%

Dec 31

Astrological symbol for Sagittarius

Sgr

-4.3

59".1

View of Venus from Earth on December 31st 2013 at 0h UT (Image modified from NASA's Solar System Simulator v4)

0.2829

0.7195

18ºE

5%

* 1 AU (Astronomical Unit) = 149,597,870 kms (92,955,806 statute miles)

Table of selected data relating to the evening apparition of Venus during 2013. The data is listed at 10-day intervals, corresponding with the dates shown in bright white on the star charts 1 and 2. The data for the table was obtained from 'MegaStar', 'Redshift 5'  and 'SkyGazer Ephemeris' software and the Venusian disk images were derived from NASA's Solar System Simulator.

Venus attained its most Northerly declination for this apparition (+24° 24' 56" or +24°.41 in decimal form) on June 6th. Across the world, the planet was now rising at its most Northerly point along the local horizon, an effect which was more pronounced the further one was situated away from the Equator. For example, on June 6th at the Equator, the planet set at an azimuth (bearing from True North) of 295°, i.e. in the North-west. At latitude 55° North, the planet set at an azimuth of 305°, a full 10° further North along the horizon. The effect of latitude on the setting position of Venus during the 2013-14 apparition is shown to good effect in the horizon diagrams below.

On June 12th Mercury reached its greatest Eastern elongation of 24°, positioned in central Gemini some 4°.3 East of Venus. Mercury passed just under 2° South of Venus on June 20th in the second and last conjunction between these two planets during the evening apparition of 2013. In late June Mercury's apparent motion slowed, stopped and reversed, such that it now moved retrograde (East to West) and headed in towards the Sun. Mercury became increasingly difficult to see after about June 29th and was lost from view by early July.

By mid-June Venus' solar elongation had extended to 20°, at which point, across the inhabited world, the planet was setting about 1½ hours after the Sun. Seen against the local horizon, Venus had been gaining altitude slowly but steadily after sundown with each passing day. From Equatorial and Southern latitudes, the planet continued to gain altitude after sunset over the coming months. In the Northern hemisphere, however, the planet's climb effectively 'stalled' during June and into early July, the result being that Venus remained at more-or-less the same altitude at any given time after sunset for a few months to come. This was particularly prominent at high-Northern latitudes, where the planet's low altitude, narrow solar elongation and the long summer twilight combined to produce a poor evening apparition. Observers at these latitudes only began to obtain more prominent views of the planet much later in the year.

On June 20th the planet passed 8°.7 South of the star Castor (Greek lower-case letter 'alpha' Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.9) and two days later, 5°.2 South of Gemini's brightest star Pollux (Greek lower-case letter 'beta' Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.3). Its highest position in the zodiac having passed, Venus was now heading Southward through the zodiac, causing the planet's setting point on the Western horizon to slowly drift Southwards with each passing week - a process that continued for the next four months.

The planet entered Cancer, the Crab, on June 25th. Between July 3rd and 4th Venus passed 0°.5 North of the open cluster Praesepe (pronounced 'pree-SEE-pee') also known as The Beehive Cluster (M44 or NGC 2632). Venus passed mid-way between the stars Asellus Borealis (Greek lower-case letter 'gamma' Cnc or Gamma Cancri, mag. +4.6) and Asellus Australis (Greek lower-case letter 'delta' Cnc or Delta Cancri, mag. +3.9) on July 4th and three days later, 7º.1 North of Acubens (Greek lower-case letter 'alpha' Cnc or Alpha Cancri, mag. +4.5).

Venus moved from Cancer into Leo, the Lion, on July 12th, passing 1°.2 North of its leading star Regulus (Greek lower-case letter 'alpha' Leo or Alpha Leonis, mag. +1.4) on July 22nd. The planet passed 0°.6 South of the star Sigma Leonis (Greek lower-case letter 'sigma' Leo, mag. +4.0), at the foot of the Lion's hind leg, on August 7th.

Venus entered Virgo, the Virgin, on August 11th, passing 0º.15 North of the star Zavijah or Zavijava (Greek lower-case letter 'beta' Vir or Beta Virginis, mag. +3.6) on August 14th.

By mid-August Venus had brightened to -3.9 and its apparent size had reached 13". Telescopes showed a notably gibbous phase, about 80% illuminated. The planet was moving South-eastwards at a steady rate of motion of about 1°.2 per day.

Venus crossed the celestial equator - heading Southwards - on August 17th. The celestial equator is the astronomical equivalent of the Earth's Equator; whilst the terrestrial Equator defines the great circle of 0° in latitude, the celestial equivalent defines 0° in declination, or astronomical latitude. A star or planet with a declination of 0° (Greek lower-case letter 'delta' = 0°) will pass directly overhead the terrestrial Equator (i.e. it will pass through the zenith point) whenever it crosses the local meridian.

On August 21st Venus passed 0º.9 South of the star Zaniah (Greek lower-case letter 'eta' Vir or Eta Virginis, mag. +3.9) and five days later (August 26th) 2º.7 South of the double star named Porrima or Arich (Greek lower-case letter 'gamma' Vir or Gamma Virginis, mag. +2.8).

Venus left Chart 1 around August 29th and joined Chart 2 two days later. During this brief break in coverage the planet crossed the ecliptic again, this time heading Southwards.

Star chart showing the paths of Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter through Gemini, Cancer, Leo and Western Virgo from June to August 2013. Click on thumbnail for a full-size star map (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The paths of Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter through the zodiac constellations during the earlier part of Venus' evening apparition in 2013 (click on the thumbnail for the full-size image). The latter part of the planet's apparition appears in the star chart above. Positions of Venus, Mercury and Mars are plotted for 0 hrs Universal Time (UT) at 5-day intervals; Jupiter's position is plotted on the July 1st and August 1st 2013. For Venus, apparition data for the dates shown in bright white (at 10-day intervals) are included in the table above.

Both evening and morning apparitions of Mercury are included. Wherever a planet was too close to the Sun to view, the path is shown by a dashed line (- -). Hence Mercury's evening apparition drew to a close in late June 2013. It then became lost from view in the evening twilight as it headed towards inferior conjunction with the Sun. The planet then re-emerged in the dawn twilight in late July for a morning apparition which lasted into early August. Because Mercury is mostly seen in twilight, many of the fainter stars shown in the planet's vicinity may not have been visible when the planet itself was observed.

The positions at which Mercury attained greatest elongation from the Sun are indicated by the letters 'GE', with the solar elongation angle in brackets; it is Eastern (E) in the evening and Western (W) in the morning. The June evening apparition of Mercury favoured Southern hemisphere observers (who should refer to the Southern hemisphere chart for a more appropriate orientation) whilst the morning apparition of July-August 2013 was favourable for both hemispheres.

Planetary conjunctions of Venus with Mercury and Jupiter in 2013 took place in May and June; for more details see the planetary conjunctions section below. The path of Jupiter on this chart is excerpted from the Jupiter 2011-14 chart.

The faintest stars shown on the chart have an apparent magnitude of about +4.8. Printer-friendly versions of this chart are available for Northern and Southern hemisphere views. Astronomical co-ordinates of Right Ascension (longitude, measured Eastwards in hrs:mins) and Declination (latitude, measured in degrees North or South of the celestial equator) are marked around the border of the chart.

On September 1st Venus passed 2º South of another double star, Theta Virginis (Greek lower-case letter 'theta' Vir, mag. +4.4) and four days later, 1º.8 to the North of Virgo's brightest star Spica (Greek lower-case letter 'alpha' Vir or Alpha Virginis, mag. +1.0).

Details of the more interesting objects and stars of Cancer, Leo and Virgo can be found on the Zodiacal Sky page covering these and their surrounding constellations.

The planet entered Libra, the Balance or Scales, on September 18th, where the final planetary conjunction of this apparition took place. On September 20th Venus passed Saturn in the Western part of the constellation (see the planetary conjunctions section below for more details).

Venus passed 2º.1 South of the star Zuben Elgenubi (Greek lower-case letter alpha Lib or Alpha Librae, mag. +2.8) on September 24th. The name means 'Southern claw', i.e. the Southern claw of the Scorpion, harking back to the pre-Roman days when the Arabs had considered this section of the zodiac to be part of Scorpius, the Scorpion.

By early October Venus had brightened to -4.0 and its apparent size had almost reached 20". The planet was around 45º from the Sun and showed a 62% illuminated gibbous phase through telescopes.

The planet entered Scorpius on October 7th. This is the narrowest section of the zodiac through which the ecliptic passes, covering just 8º of ecliptic longitude. By contrast, the largest stretch of the ecliptic lies in Virgo, where it extends across some 44º of longitude.

On October 10th Venus passed 0º.7 South of the star Dschubba (Greek lower-case letter 'delta' Sco or Delta Scorpii, mag. +2.2) which marks the 'forehead' of the Scorpion. Four days later it passed 1º.1 North of the star Alniyat (Greek lower-case letter 'sigma' Sco or Sigma Scorpii, mag. +2.9).

Venus cut across the South-western corner of the large 'non-zodiac' constellation of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, for a period of 31 hours between October 15th and 16th. On the 16th the planet passed 1º.3 North of the orange-red star Antares (Greek lower-case letter alpha Sco or Alpha Scorpii, mag. +1.0v), before re-entering Scorpius later that same day. The planet's ecliptic latitude (normally denoted by the symbol Greek lower-case letter 'beta') at this point was -3º.0, which was far enough South of the ecliptic to take the planet back into Scorpius for a brief time. For the planet to remain in Ophiuchus during this period, the ecliptic latitude would need to have been North of -2º.3.

Venus passed 3º North of the star Tau Scorpii (Greek lower-case letter 'tau' Sco, mag. +2.7) on October 17th before re-entering Ophiuchus on October 21st. It passed 10º.6 South of the constellation's second-brightest star Sabik (Greek lower-case letter 'eta' Oph or Eta Ophiuchi, mag. +2.5) on October 25th.

Around this time the planet was best seen from mid-Southern latitudes. At 35º South, some 30 minutes after sunset, Venus was placed 38º high in the Western sky, setting around 4 hours after sunset. In stark contrast, high-Northern latitudes saw the planet setting less than an hour after sunset. Details of the planet's direction and altitude at 30 minutes after sunset for various latitudes are listed in the table below, where they are also shown in the form of a horizon diagram.

While located in Ophiuchus, Venus passed 10º.3 North of Scorpius' second-brightest star Schaula (Greek lower-case letter 'lambda' Sco or Lambda Scorpii, mag. +1.6) on October 30th. This star marks the sting of the Scorpion. With a declination of -37º it is not visible from latitudes North of 53º North, being permanently below the horizon from these locations.

Venus reached its greatest elongation from the Sun for this apparition (47°.07 East) on November 1st 2013, in South-western Ophiuchus. It was then positioned approximately mid-way between the stars Antares (in Scorpius) and Nunki (in Sagittarius). Being just 0°.5 from the border with Sagittarius, the planet soon entered the Archer constellation later that day, just 14 hours after reaching greatest elongation.

At this point, telescopes showed Venus' disk half-illuminated (phase = 0.50 or 50%) with an apparent diameter of 25" and shining at magnitude -4.3. Although the greatest elongation from the Sun took place on November 1st, Venus wais in fact positioned at 47°.0 elongation for a ten-day period from October 27th through to November 6th.

For a few days around greatest elongation, telescopic observers often look to find the precise moment when the terminator (the line seperating the light and dark sides of the planet) appears perfectly straight, essentially dividing Venus into two perfect halves. Solar System geometry suggests that this should occur on greatest elongation day, however it often does not and the precise reason for this is not fully understood. Observers often report the straight terminator several days earlier or later than the greatest elongation date (early in evening apparitions and late in morning apparitions). This anomaly is commonly known as Schröter's Effect.

Around early November, Venus was best seen from Southern tropical latitudes. Half an hour after sunset, the planet was a significant 39º above the WSW horizon, setting around 3½ hours after sundown. Taken in terms of visual impact and ease of viewing, the 2013-14 apparition was best viewed from the Southern tropics; indeed, for this region of the world it was the best of the five evening apparition 'cycles' of Venus (there being five evening and five morning apparitions in each Venusian 8-year 'cycle').

For telescopic observers of the planet, a 30º to 40º high placement of Venus in the sky after sunset was of little benefit. Because of the planet's glare when seen against a darkening sky, coupled with the Earth's troublesome atmospheric turbulence at low altitudes, most telescope users observe the planet in full daylight, when it is high above the horizon and more easily seen against a brighter sky. Of course, extreme caution must be taken when attempting to observe any of the planets in daylight and the Sun must be positioned at a safe angular distance from the planet and be fully shielded from view.

On November 6th Venus attained its most Southerly position in the zodiac for the 2013-14 apparition (Greek lower-case letter 'delta' = -27° 9' 43", i.e. 27°.16 South of the celestial equator). Venus now set at its most Southerly point along the local horizon. Like at its Northernmost position on June 6th, the effect was more pronounced the further away from the Equator an observer was situated.

The planet was now positioned about 2°.7 South of the gaseous nebula known as the Lagoon Nebula (M8 or NGC 6523), which is visible as a misty blur to the naked-eye under very dark skies. Binoculars will reveal the star cluster NGC 6530 embedded within the nebula and considerably more detail can be seen through telescopes. This region of the night sky is particularly rich in open clusters, globular clusters and gaseous nebulae. Indeed, Venus was now set against the most dense region of the Milky Way, positioned in the general direction of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy itself.

Its solar elongation slowly reducing, Venus passed 3º.2 North of the star Nash or Alnasr (Greek lower-case letter 'gamma' Sgr or Gamma Sagittarii, mag. +2.9) on November 6th. The name means 'point of the arrow' which Sagittarius, the Archer directs Westwards towards the heart of the Scorpion.

Over the next few days, the planet passed the stars which define the various parts of the Archer's bow. On November 10th Venus passed 2º.7 North of the star Kaus Meridionalis (Greek lower-case letter 'delta' Sgr or Delta Sagittarii, mag. +2.7), the middle of the bow and on November 12th it passed 1º.6 South of Kaus Borealis (Greek lower-case letter 'lambda' Sgr or Lambda Sagittarii, mag. +2.8), the Northern part of the bow.

Around mid-November Venus was well seen from Equatorial latitudes. Here the planet stood 36º high in the South-west at 30 minutes after sunset, remaining visible for over 2½ hours thereafter.

Other bright stars of Sagittarius were passed during the next week. On November 16th Venus passed 0º.3 North of the star Phi Sagittarii (Greek lower-case letter 'phi' Sgr, mag. +3.1), then 0º.15 South of Nunki (Greek lower-case letter 'sigma' Sgr or Sigma Sagittarii, mag. +2.0) on November 19th; 3º.6 North of Ascella (Greek lower-case letter 'zeta' Sgr or Zeta Sagittarii, mag. +2.6) on November 21st and 1º.6 North of Tau Sagittarii (Greek lower-case letter 'tau' Sgr, mag. +3.3) on November 22nd.

Northern tropical latitudes now saw the planet at its highest altitude after sunset. At latitude 20º North Venus was positioned 28º high in the South-west at 30 minutes after sunset, setting 2½ hours later.

Venus was now slowly ascending the ecliptic once more, its declination moving Northwards. As it did so, the planet's setting position also began to drift Northwards along the local horizon over the coming weeks, an effect which was most pronounced at higher Northern hemisphere latitudes. The planet's Eastward motion had now slowed from 1º.2 per day (a few months earlier) to only half that distance (0º.6) per day.

Venus attained its greatest brilliancy for this apparition (mag. -4.56) on December 7th 2013. 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. For the 2013-14 apparition, this took place when the planet was 26% illuminated (phase = 0.26), its angular diameter was 41".2 and its solar elongation was 40°.

Observers at mid-Northern latitudes now got their opportunity to see the planet at its best. However, half an hour after sunset at latitude at 40º North, the planet wais positioned a disappointing 18º high in the South-west, setting about 2¾ hours after sunset. Interestingly, around December 11th this same duration of the planet's visibility after sunset was echoed across nearly all latitudes (see table below).

Venus' Eastward motion ceased on December 20th when it reached its Eastern stationary point, just 0º.8 West of the border with Capricornus, the Sea Goat. The planet then started to move retrograde (East to West) and its solar elongation reduced more rapidly with each passing day. The planet had also been moving slightly Northward since late November, carrying it up into the North-eastern corner of Sagittarius. This slow Northward movement gradually improved the visibility of the planet after sunset from Northern latitudes, despite the reducing elongation. The planet crossed the ecliptic - heading Northwards once more - on the day of the Earth's winter solstice, December 21st.

After a long wait, Venus was now best seen from high-Northern latitudes, although at latitude 60º North it was only a paltry 8º above the SSW horizon at 30 minutes after sunset. The 2013-14 apparition of Venus had not been a good one for observers located at these latitudes. In this region of the world it was the worst apparition since that of 2005-06 and the poorest of the five evening apparition 'cycles' of the planet. By contrast, the evening apparition of 2011-12 was an excellent one, with Venus positioned high in the Western sky after sunset - the best of the planet's five evening apparitions for Northern hemisphere observers.

From around mid-December, Venus' altitude at any given time after sunset rapidly fell away with each passing day. Observers positioned at the Equator and the Southern tropical regions saw the greatest fall of altitude per day. From the Equator, on December 15th Venus was placed 26º above the horizon at 30 minutes after sunset, but by December 31st it had fallen to just 8º. Northern hemisphere observers saw a much less dramatic fall; from 50º North at the same period after sunset, the planet was positioned 12º high on the 15th and 8º high on the 31st. These changes in altitude over time are illustrated in the horizon diagrams below where the slope of the planet's apparent path against the local horizon from early December 2013 through to the end of the apparition can be compared across the various latitudes.

As the apparition drew to a close in late December, observers equipped with binoculars are likely to have detected the tiny crescent of Venus soon after sunset as it languished low towards the West-South-western sky. Telescopes showed a large, thin crescent at this point, over 52" in diameter, the image greatly disturbed by the Earth's turbulent atmosphere and split into the rainbow colours by an effect called dispersion (an example of how dispersion appears through a telescope can be seen here). Its solar elongation having fallen below 20°, observers at high-Southern latitudes began to have some difficulty viewing Venus as it sank into the bright dusk twilight, setting less than an hour after the Sun. Over the festive season, observers at mid-Northern latitudes enjoyed views of the planet extending to 1½ hours after sunset, however the duration of visibility dwindled rapidly as 2013 gave way to 2014.

As the Venusian crescent continued to enlarge it also became more slender, such that the dark (non-illuminated) side of the planet was well-displayed when seen from the Earth. With the aid of ultraviolet and infrared filters, telescopic observers now began their search for the mysterious and elusive Ashen Light, a faint glowing of the night side of Venus which until recently had no clear explanation. Today, the Ashen Light is considered to be a visual indication of the planet's surface glowing red hot due to its extremely high surface temperature.

In the final days of December, observers with exceptionally-good eyesight are likely to have attempted viewing the crescent of Venus with the naked-eye. Whilst this may seem extraordinary, the planet's apparent size of around 58" brought it very close to the generally-accepted resolution of the human eye, i.e. 1 arcminute (60"). Because the planet's solar elongation was now around 18° or less, glare was no longer a problem because the planet was now seen in bright twilight through to its setting, theoretically allowing the crescent to be discerned more easily.

By the end of the first week of January 2014, Venus had become lost from view from all locations as it sped towards inferior conjunction (passing between the Earth and the Sun) on January 11th 2014. At the moment of inferior conjunction, Venus was positioned 5º.2 North of the Sun's centre (Greek lower-case letter 'beta' = +5º.2). After inferior conjunction, the planet headed into the morning sky. From around mid-January 2014, Venus was seen rising as a 'Morning Star' in the East-South-eastern sky shortly before the Sun, heralding a new morning apparition (2014) which lasted through to September 2014.

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

 

^ Back to Top of Page 

Venus Conjunctions with other Planets in 2013

A wide conjunction between Venus and Saturn in Libra on September 20th 2013 was well placed for observers located South of about 40° North. It was poorly placed for observers at high-Northern latitudes; although the solar elongation was a respectable 43°, at these latitudes the planets are positioned low above the horizon at dusk because of the shallow angle presented by the ecliptic in relation to the Western horizon at this time of year. With a separation of 3°.7 the two planets were too far apart for them to be contained within the field of view of telescopes, however binoculars would easily have accommodated them.

The two visible conjunctions between Venus and Mercury during the 2013-14 apparition were both difficult to observe. They were best seen from Equatorial latitudes and were more difficult elsewhere; observers at higher Northern latitudes most likely found the low altitude and the summer twilight to be a major obstacle to their visibility.

The four planetary conjunctions with Venus which were viewable during the 2013-14 evening apparition are listed in the table below.

Table showing the visible Venus conjunctions with other planets during the evening apparition of 2013 (Copyright Martin J Powell, 2013)

Venus conjunctions with other planets during 2013 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 2013 May 28, Jupiter was positioned 1°.0 South 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 expression 'Not high N Lats' indicates that observers at latitudes further North than about 45°N would most likely have found the conjunction difficult or impossible to observe because of low altitude and/or bright twilight.

In the 'When Visible' column, a distinction is made between Dusk and Evening visibility; the term Dusk refers specifically to the twilight period after sunset, whilst the term Evening refers to the period after darkness falls (some conjunctions take place in darkness, others do not, depending upon latitude). The 'Con' column shows the constellation in which the planets were positioned at the time of the conjunction.

To find the direction in which the conjunctions were seen on any of the dates in the table, note down the constellation in which the planets were located ('Con' column) on the required date and find the constellation's setting direction for your particular latitude in the Rise-Set direction table.

The table is excerpted from another showing Venus conjunctions with other planets from 2010 to 2020 on the Venus Conjunctions page.

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.

^ Back to Top of Page

Moon near Venus Dates, June 2013 to January 2014

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 2013 and January 2014:

Date Range

(World)

Conjunction (Geocentric)

Solar Elong.

Moon Phase

Date & Time

Sep. & Dir.

2013

Jun 9/10

Jun 10, 11:17 UT

.3 N

19°E

Waxing Crescent

throughout

Jul 10/11

Jul 10, 23h UT

.2 N

27°E

Aug 9/10

Aug 10, 02h UT

.0 N

34°E

Sep 8*/9

Sep 8, 21:03 UT

.4 N

41°E

Oct 8/9

Oct 8, 12:06 UT

.6 S

45°E

Nov 6/7

Nov 7, 00:32 UT

.0 S

47°E

Dec 5/6

Dec 6, 00:03 UT

.6 S

40°E

2014

Jan 1/2

Jan 2, 11:45 UT

.0 S

14°E

 

* A lunar occultation took place, visible from southern South America and the southern Pacific Ocean. See The Astronomical Almanac website for visibility track and timings.

Moon near Venus dates for the evening apparition of 2013-14. The Date Range shows the range of dates worldwide (allowing for Time Zone differences across East and West hemispheres). Note that the dates, times and separations at conjunction (i.e. when the two bodies were at the same Right Ascension) are measured from the Earth's centre (geocentric) and not from the Earth's surface (times are Universal Time [UT], equivalent to GMT). The Sep. & Dir. column gives the angular distance (separation) and direction of the planet relative to the Moon, e.g. on October 8th at 12:06 UT, Venus was positioned 4°.6 South of the Moon's centre.

Because Venus never appears more than 47° from the Sun, the Moon always shows a crescent phase whenever it passes the planet in the sky: a waxing crescent during evening apparitions and a waning crescent during morning apparitions.

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.

^ Back to Top of Page

 

Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration of Venus after Sunset, June to December 2013

The following tables give the direction and altitude (angle above the horizon) of Venus at 30 minutes after sunset, together with the visibility duration of the planet after sunset, for the 2013 evening apparition. An explanation of abbreviations in the tables is given in the box below. For the sake of convenience, the table is split into Northern and Southern hemisphere latitudes (the Equator is included in both tables to allow interpolation of the data for observers situated at Equatorial latitudes). The tables will have proved sufficient to locate the planet in twilight, allowing telescope users to view the planet in comfort (because of Venus' brilliance, glare becomes a problem when the planet is seen through the eyepiece against a dark sky). Direction and Altitude diagrams are also provided below for intermediate latitudes of 55° North, 35° North, 30° South and the Equator.

The tables allow one to find the highest altitude in the sky which Venus attained for any given latitude during the 2013 evening apparition, and in which direction it was seen. For example, observers situated at latitude 30° North would have found the planet highest in the sky (at 30 minutes after sunset) in early December 2013, when it was seen at an altitude of 24° towards the South-west. The duration column shows that the planet was above the horizon for about 3 hours after sunset.

Northern Hemisphere Latitudes

Table showing direction & altitude (30 minutes after local sunset) and visibility duration of Venus for Northern hemisphere latitudes for the 2013 evening apparition (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

Direction & Altitude (30 minutes after local sunset) and Visibility Duration of Venus for Northern hemisphere latitudes and the Equator for the evening apparition of 2013. To find your latitude, visit the Heavens Above website, select your country and enter the name of your nearest town or city in the search box.

The table column headings are as follows:

    Dir = compass direction of Venus,

    Alt = angular altitude (elevation) of Venus (degrees above the horizon; a negative value of Alt means Venus is below the horizon).

    Dur = the approximate visibility duration of Venus after local sunset (in hrs:mins). An italicised duration means that Venus was seen under twilight conditions through to its setting, i.e. it was not seen against a truly dark sky (twilight in this case refers to nautical twilight, which ends when the Sun is more than 12° below the horizon). A letter 'D' indicates that Venus set in daylight.

Note that the directions and altitudes refer to the planet's position at 30 minutes after local sunset. To find the time of local sunset at your own location, select your country/town from the drop-down menu at the Time and Date.com website. The approximate time at which Venus set can be found by adding the visibility duration on a particular date (column Dur) to the time of local sunset on the same date. To find the direction in which Venus set on any given date for a particular latitude, note down the constellation in which the planet was located on the required date (column headed Con) then find its setting direction for your latitude in the Rise-Set direction table.

Southern Hemisphere Latitudes

Table showing direction & altitude (30 minutes after local sunset) and visibility duration of Venus for Southern hemisphere latitudes for the 2013 evening apparition (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

Direction & Altitude (30 minutes after local sunset) and Visibility Duration of Venus for Southern hemisphere latitudes and the Equator for the evening apparition of 2013. The column headings are described under the Northern hemisphere table above.

^ Back to Top of Page

 

 

Direction & Altitude Diagrams (Horizon Diagrams) for the 2013-14 Evening Apparition

The following diagrams show an observer's Western horizon (from due South to due North) for latitudes of 55° North (a high-Northern latitude), 35° North (mid-Northern), the Equator and 30° South (mid-Southern). The path of Venus is plotted in the sky at 30 minutes after local sunset throughout the 2013-14 evening apparition with the planet's direction and altitude marked along the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. Essentially, these diagrams show the same information as in the above look-up tables, but in an illustrative format, for the Equator and three intermediate latitudes.

For higher accuracy, the azimuth (the bearing measured clockwise from True North) is also shown along the direction axis. For each of the latitudes shown, the direction and altitude of Venus after sunset can be estimated for any part of the 2013-14 evening apparition by positioning your pointing device over each image, when an overlay grid will appear, marked at 10° intervals; the values can then be read off accordingly.

 

Path of Venus in the evening sky during 2013-14, seen from latitude 55° North (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The Path of Venus in the Evening Sky (plotted for 30 mins after sunset) during 2013-14 for an observer at latitude 55° North.

Path of Venus in the evening sky during 2013-14, seen from latitude 35° North (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The Path of Venus in the Evening Sky (plotted for 30 mins after sunset) during 2013-14 for an observer at latitude 35° North.

Path of Venus in the evening sky during 2013-14, seen from the Equator (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The Path of Venus in the Evening Sky (plotted for 30 mins after sunset) during 2013-14 for an observer at the Equator (latitude 0°).

Path of Venus in the evening sky during 2013-14, seen from latitude 30° South (Copyright Martin J Powell 2013)

The Path of Venus in the Evening Sky (plotted for 30 mins after sunset) during 2013-14 for an observer at latitude 30° South.

Paths of Venus in the Evening Sky (30 mins after sunset) for the 2013-14 evening apparition, as seen by observers at latitudes 55° North, 35° North, the Equator and 30° South. The letters GE refer to the planet's greatest elongation (followed in brackets by its angular distance from the Sun) and the letters GB refer to the planet's greatest brilliance point (followed in brackets by its apparent magnitude).

The azimuth (Az, along the bottom of each diagram) is the bearing measured clockwise from True North (where 0° = North, 90° = East, 180° = South, etc.). The altitude (Alt) is the angle measured vertically from the local horizon (the horizon itself is 0°). Azimuth and altitude are co-ordinates which are used for high-accuracy tracking of objects across the sky; in astronomy it is mainly used for setting telescopes which are fitted with altazimuth mounts.

To determine the planet's position in the sky with higher accuracy, move your pointing device over each image (or click on the picture) to see an overlay grid marked at 10° intervals in azimuth and altitude (the dates are removed for clarity). For example, at latitude 35° North on September 1st 2013, at 30 minutes after sunset, Venus was found at azimuth = 251° (i.e. in the WSW) and altitude = 13°.

Although the dates indicated in the above diagrams refer specifically to the period 2013-14, Venus has an 8-year cycle of apparitions such that its position in the evening sky in 2013-14 will repeat very closely in the evening sky of 2021-22. The writer refers to this particular evening apparition as Apparition D; for more details, see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle.

 ^ Back to Top of Page


Naked-eye Venus: Apparitions, Conjunctions and Elongations

The Naked-eye appearance of Venus

Naked Eye Planet Index

Planetary Movements through the Zodiac

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto


Credits


Copyright  Martin J Powell  May 2013


Site hosted by  TSOHost