The Venus Evening Apparition of 2022-2023

by Martin J. Powell

Following superior conjunction on October 22nd 2022 (when it passes directly behind the Sun in the constellation of Virgo) Venus' 2022-23 apparition as an 'Evening Star' commences as the planet emerges in the dusk sky around mid-November 2022. Observers at Southern Tropical latitudes are the first to see it, low down in the WSW soon after sunset. Northern latitudes begin to detect the planet from around late November (at 30° North), early December (40° North), mid-December (50° North) and late December (60° North). Southern latitudes detect the planet from mid-November (at 15° South) to late November (35°-45° South).

Venus is moving in an Easterly direction (direct or prograde) at this time, entering the constellation of Libra, the Scales, on October 29th and Scorpius, the Scorpion on November 17th. On November 21st Venus crosses the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun, Moon and planets along the zodiac) from North to South, whilst positioned in Northern Scorpius. The planet enters Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, on November 22nd.

Venus reaches a solar elongation (angle measured from the Sun) of 10° East on December 2nd, shining at an apparent magnitude of -3.8 and pulling away from the Sun at a rate of about 0°.25 per day. The planet enters Sagittarius, the Archer, on December 7th.

As Venus begins its apparition the planet Mercury, shining at magnitude -0.5, also enters the evening sky in its fourth and final evening apparition of 2022. Mercury is pulling away from the Sun at a rate of 0°.49 per day, i.e. twice that of Venus. This is the first of three paired apparitions which take place between the two planets during Venus' 2022-23 evening 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). Due to Solar System geometry, apparitions of Mercury typically favour either Northern or Southern hemisphere observers, however this apparition favours no particular hemisphere. As it emerges in the dusk sky, Mercury is positioned 4°.2 ESE of Venus (at 0 hours UT on December 6th). Over the next two weeks Mercury swiftly pulls away Eastwards from Venus, moving away from it at a rate of about 0°.23 per day. Mercury is positioned 4°.8 ESE of Venus at midnight UT on the 9th and 5°.4 ESE of Venus at midnight UT on the 12th.

On December 13th Venus attains its most Southerly position in the zodiac for the 2022-23 apparition, with a declination (symbol ) of -24° 13' 20" (-24°.2224 in decimal form), located just inside the Western border of Sagittarius. Venus now sets at its most Southerly point along the local horizon for this apparition. By late December the planet is setting around an hour after sunset.

At midnight UT, Mercury is positioned 5°.7 ESE of Venus on December 15th and 5°.9 East of it on the 18th. By December 19th Mercury is deviating Northwards, causing its Eastward rate of motion to slow, such that Venus begins to catch up with it, Mercury being positioned 5°.8 East of Venus at midnight UT on the 19th. On December 21st Mercury reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun, being positioned 20°.1 East of it and 5°.4 East of Venus. Venus itself reaches a solar elongation of 15° East on December 23rd. Over the next week the gap between Mercury and Venus narrows, being 5°.3 East of Venus at midnight UT on the 22nd, 4°.1 ENE of it on the 25th and 2°.1 North-east of it on the 28th. The waxing crescent Moon passes by the planetary pair from December 24th to 25th.

On December 26th Venus passes through the aphelion point in its orbit (its most distant point from the Sun), at a solar distance of 0.7282 AU (Astronomical Unit), equivalent to 108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles, the first of two occasions during this apparition when it does so. Its closest point to the Sun - known as the perihelion - will be reached in April 2023.

At 09:17 UT on December 29th Venus finally catches up with Mercury, passing 1°.4 to the South of it in an event called a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction takes place when two planets attain the same celestial longitude, so that they appear close together in the sky; it is the first of six such conjunctions that Venus will encounter during its 2022-23 evening apparition. This particular conjunction can only be observed - with some difficulty - from latitudes between about 51° North and 37° South (see the Planetary Conjunctions section below for more details). Mercury, having faded to magnitude +0.5, reaches its Eastern stationary point on the same day as the conjunction. Over the next few days Mercury swiftly pulls away Westwards from Venus and heads out of view into the dusk twilight.

Venus enters Capricornus, the Sea-Goat, on January 2nd, reaching an elongation of 20° East of the Sun on January 13th, positioned in the centre of that constellation. During January the planet moves at a rate of around 1°.25 per day against the background stars, positioned about 1°.5 South of the ecliptic.

At this early stage of the apparition, when seen through a telescope, Venus shows a broad gibbous shape (i.e. a little less than a full disk), its phase (the percentage of the illuminated portion of the disk) being around 95%. The planet shines at magnitude -3.9 and its apparent diameter measures only a little over 10" across (i.e. 10 arcseconds, where 1" = 1/60th of an arcminute or 1/3600 of a degree). The planet's low altitude (angle above the horizon), its great distance from the Earth and its small apparent size makes Venus a difficult object to observe telescopically, with little or no detail being visible in its clouds.

Up until this point, at half-an-hour after local sunset, Venus has been positioned over the South-western or WSW horizon, its altitude no higher than about 10° above the horizon. From mid-January Venus' position along the local horizon at any given time after sunset begins to move slowly Northwards over the coming months and the planet's altitude also increases; movements which will continue through to mid-May. The rate of altitude increase is relatively fast in the Northern hemisphere but more gradual in the Southern hemisphere. During the 2022-23 evening apparition it is the Northern hemisphere which first sees Venus attain its highest point in the sky after sunset (in early to mid-Spring) while the Southern hemisphere will witness this about a month or two later (in late Autumn/early Winter). Details of the planet's direction and altitude at 30 minutes after sunset for various latitudes are listed in the table below and they are also shown in the form of a horizon diagram.

On January 14th Venus passes 1° South of the star Cap (Theta Capricorni, mag. +4.0), which is positioned at the centre of Capricornus. At 10:12 UT on January 17th the planet passes just 13' (0°.21) South of the star  Cap (Iota Capricorni, mag. +4.2), positioned at the 'rump' of the Sea-Goat figure.

In mid-January Venus is approaching Saturn to its WNW, currently in Eastern Capricornus and shining at magnitude +0.8, at a rate of 1°.1 per day. The ringed planet is now in the closing stage of its 2022-23 apparition and, being very distant and small, is not seen at its best at this time. Its rings are nonetheless on view although they are slowly narrowing their aspect towards the Earth. Saturn's rings currently measure 35" across, the globe of the planet being 15" across; this compares with Venus whose apparent diameter is 10".9 at the present time. Saturn is positioned 6°.7 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 17th, 4°.5 WNW of Venus on the 19th, 2°.2 WNW of it on the 21st and 1°.1 North-west of it on the 22nd.

On January 20th Venus passes 7°.9 South of the star Bunda ( Aqr or Xi Aquarii, mag. +4.7), located in the neighbouring constellation of Aquarius, the Water-Bearer. The name was formally assigned to the star by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2018 after a Persian lunar mansion. On January 21st Venus passes 1°.0 North of Nashira ( Cap or Gamma Capricorni, mag. +3.7), one of the stars located in the 'tail' of the Sea Goat.

On January 22nd Venus passes 1°.1 North of the Sea Goat's brightest star, a variable star named Deneb Algedi ( Cap or Delta Capricorni, mag. +2.9) in Eastern Capricornus. The name is Arabic for 'tail of the goat' and it was also known as Deneb Algiedi or Scheddi before IAU standardisation in 2017.

At 19:36 UT on January 22nd Venus and Saturn meet in the second planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition, Venus passing 22' (0°.36) to the South of the ringed planet. The relatively narrow solar elongation of 22° means that the event is not seen at high altitude anywhere across the world (an assessment of the worldwide visibility of this and the other five conjunctions of the 2022-23 apparition is discussed in the Planetary Conjunctions section below).

Following conjunction, Venus pulls away from Saturn, being 21' (0°.35) to the South-west of Saturn at midnight UT on the 23rd, 2°.3 West of the ringed planet on the 25th and 4°.6 WNW of it on the 27th.

Venus enters Aquarius on January 24th. Around this time Venus is setting some 2 hours after sunset (at high-Northern latitudes), 1¾ hours after sunset (at low and mid-Northern latitudes), 1½ hours after sunset (Equatorial and Tropical latitudes) and 1¼ hours after sunset (mid-Southern latitudes). Visibility durations of the planet after sunset for a variety of world latitudes are shown in the Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration table below.

On January 26th Venus passes 32' (0°.53) North of the star Aqr (Iota Aquarii, mag. +4.2), positioned at the 'knee-joint' of the Water-Bearer's advancing leg. On January 28th it passes 4°.5 South of the star Ancha ( Aqr or Theta Aquarii, mag. +4.1), positioned roughly at the centre of the Water-Bearer figure.

Between January 29th and February 1st Venus passes about 10° South of the asterism (star pattern) informally-named the 'Steering Wheel'. At the centre of the 'wheel' is the star Aqr (Zeta Aquarii, mag. +3.7) with the stars Sadachbia ( Aqr or Gamma Aquarii, mag. +3.9), Aqr (Eta Aquarii, mag. +4.0) and Aqr (Pi Aquarii, mag. +4.8) encircling it. It is one of several asterisms spread across the zodiac with which beginner astronomers should become familiar, in order to aid constellation identification. On some modern star maps this asterism is seen to depict the head of the Water-Bearer figure; such maps are based on the constellations envisaged in the 1950s by the author and illustrator H. A. Rey (1898-1977). On older star maps, such as the Uranographia published in 1801 by Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826), these stars marked the amphora from which the water was poured.

At 14:25 UT on January 31st Venus passes just 18' (0°.3) South of the star Aqr (Sigma Aquarii, mag. +4.8), which Venus will occult (see below) during its morning apparition in 2048. At 04:30 UT on the same day the planet passes 11° South of the aforementioned Aqr, a double star located at the centre of the 'Steering Wheel'.

By early February Venus' solar elongation has extended to 25° and its apparent size has increased slightly to a little over 11". The apparent disk size will continue to increase as the apparition progresses. Telescopes show a notably gibbous phase about 90% illuminated.

On February 5th Venus passes 1°.1 South of the star Aqr (Lambda Aquarii, mag. +3.8) which is positioned a little to the South of the ecliptic. During its 2014 morning apparition Venus passed in front of this star, blocking it from view for several minutes in an event called an occultation. Meanwhile, some 25° away to the WNW, Jupiter (mag. -2.0) is about to exit central Southern Pisces and enter the non-zodiacal constellation of Cetus, the Whale. Venus and Jupiter will meet in an impressive evening conjunction in early March.

Far to the South of Venus in early February is the constellation of Piscis Australis, the Southern Fish. Ancient Greek and Babylonian mythology describes it as being the parent of the much more famous zodiacal Pisces and it was envisaged as drinking the water poured from the Water-Bearer's amphora. The constellation's brightest star is Fomalhaut ( PsA or Alpha Piscis Austrini, mag. +1.2), a blue-white star whose Arabic name translates as the 'fish's mouth'. In 2012 an extra-solar planet (or exoplanet, a planet outside our Solar System) was confirmed as orbiting the star, known initially as Fomalhaut b and later as Dagon. Venus passes 21°.8 North of Fomalhaut on February 6th.

At 01:39 UT on February 10th Venus passes 18' (0°.3) South of the star Aqr (Phi Aquarii, mag. +4.2), which on older star maps is one of several stars which marked the stream of water flowing from the Water-Bearer's amphora. At 10 hours UT on the same day the planet passes 2°.9 North of ¹ Aqr (Psi-1 Aquarii, mag. +4.2), another star in the water stream and another which has an exoplanet, named 91 Aquarii b.

On February 15th Venus is involved in a very close conjunction with Neptune, by far the closest of the 2022-23 evening apparition. It takes place just 15' (0°.25) South of the Aquarian border with Pisces. Due to the narrow solar elongation the conjunction is only observable (with difficulty) from latitudes South of about 56° North and is unobservable from most of the Southern hemisphere. Optical aid is always required in order to see Neptune, which has occupied Aquarius since 2010 and will leave it in a few weeks' time. At the moment of conjunction, Jupiter, temporarily occupying Cetus, is positioned 15° to the WNW of the pair.

Venus enters Pisces, the Fishes, on February 16th. From around the 10th to the 17th of the month the planet passes several degrees South of the Circlet of Pisces, a circular pattern of moderately-bright stars at the far-Western end of the constellation. The passage starts at about 18 hours UT on the 10th, when it passes 9°.2 South of   Psc (Gamma Piscium, mag. +3.7), the Westernmost star of the Circlet. As it begins its passage of the Circlet Jupiter is positioned about 14° WNW of Venus, with Venus moving towards it at a rate of 1° per day.

The planet completes its passage of the Circlet at 04 hours UT on February 17th when it passes 6°.1 South of the star TX Psc or 19 Psc (19 Piscium, mag. +5.1v), positioned at the Eastern end of the asterism. It is a red giant variable star with a small irregular brightness variation of between magnitudes +4.8 and +5.2.

In mid-February Venus continues to close the gap between it and Jupiter, ahead of their conjunction in two weeks' time. Jupiter is 12°.3 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on February 18th. After having spent only 13 days in Cetus, Jupiter re-enters Pisces on February 19th with Venus positioned 11°.1 away to its WSW. Jupiter is 10°.3 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 20th and 8°.3 WNW of it at midnight UT on the 22nd.

Venus passes 7°.9 South of the star Psc (Omega Piscium, mag. +4.0), located a short distance East of the Southern Fish's head, on February 20th. On the same day the planet crosses to the North of the celestial equator ( = 0°) in South-western Pisces, causing the planet to set due West across the inhabited world.

At midnight UT on February 24th Jupiter is positioned 6°.3 to the WNW of Venus. At 14 hours UT on the same day Venus passes 10°.0 North of the star   Cet (Iota Ceti, mag. +3.5), located at the tail-end of Cetus. It has been known by the name Deneb Kaitos Shemali but it is mostly not used now because of confusion with the nearby star Diphda ( Cet or Beta Ceti, mag. +3.3), the brightest star in the constellation, which was formerly known as Deneb Kaitos. The original Arabic names of these stars translated as 'tail of the whale' to the North ( Cet) and South ( Cet).

At midnight UT on February 26th Jupiter is positioned 4°.3 to the WNW of Venus, the latter planet reaching a solar elongation of 30° East on the same day. Also on the 26th, Venus - like Jupiter before it - exits the zodiac temporarily, clipping the North-western corner of Cetus, spending a little under 33 hours there before returning to Pisces the following day. Venus is currently moving against the background stars at a rate of about 1°.2 per day. At midnight UT on the final day of February Jupiter is positioned only 2°.2 to the West of Venus.

Jupiter is positioned just 32' (0°.53) to the South-west of Venus at midnight UT on March 2nd. Thirty minutes later Venus passes 22°.2 North of the aforementioned star Diphda ( Cet) in Cetus. At 10:39 UT that same day, in a region of relatively faint stars in central Southern Pisces, Venus passes 32' (0°.53) to the North of Jupiter in the fourth planetary conjunction of the apparition. The event is visible worldwide, although slightly more favourable to Northern hemisphere observers (for more details see the Planetary Conjunctions section below). Venus always shines brighter than Jupiter - on this occasion 5¾ times brighter - the brightness difference being the easiest way to discern by naked-eye which is which during a conjunction.

Following conjunction, Venus speeds on towards the ENE, leaving Jupiter behind it to close its apparition in late March. On March 3rd Venus passes 2°.9 South of Psc (Delta Piscium, mag. +4.4), positioned about half-way along the Southern Fish's body, at which time the planet is 1°.1 North-west of Jupiter.

Venus passes 1°.6 South of Psc (Epsilon Piscium, mag. +4.3) on March 6th, at which time it is 4°.2 WNW of Jupiter. At 19:27 UT on March 8th the planet passes just 6' (0°.1) South of the variable & double-star Revati ( Psc or Zeta Piscium, mag. +5.2), a name adopted by the IAU in 2017 and which is derived from an ancient Hindu lunar mansion. As Venus passes Revati, the angular gap between it and Jupiter has widened to 6°.6. On March 12th Venus passes 6°.8 South of Alpherg ( Psc or Eta Piscium, mag. +3.8), the brightest star in Pisces, whose name is Arabic for 'the cord', i.e. the cord that ties the two Fishes together. By the time Venus passes Alpherg it is 10°.5 to the WNW of Jupiter.

Venus crosses the ecliptic from South to North on March 14th and enters Aries, the Ram, on the 16th. On March 15th the planet passes 1°.8 North of Torcular ( Psc or Omicron Piscium, mag. +4.2) which is positioned in the tail of the Northern Fish. The name Torcular was formerly standardized by the IAU in 2017, the original name having been the fanciful Torcularis Septentrionalis. Venus will occult the star during its morning apparition in 2027.

At 16:30 UT on March 17th Venus passes 7°.4 South of the double star Mesarthim ( Ari or Gamma Arietis, mag. +3.9) in Western Aries. Easily resolved in small telescopes, it comprises two white stars of magnitudes +4.6 and +4.7, separated by 7".5. At 22:30 UT on the same day, the planet passes 8°.8 South of the multiple star Sheratan ( Ari or Beta Arietis, mag. +2.6), whose name is Arabic for 'the signs'.

On March 20th Venus passes a wide 10°.2 South of the Ram's brightest star Hamal ( Ari or Alpha Arietis, mag. +2.1). In 2011 the star was found to have an exoplanet orbiting around it. The exoplanet is the equivalent of 1.7 Jupiter masses and orbits the star at a distance of 1.1 AU in a period of 380 days.

Venus exits Chart 1 around March 28th and enters Chart 2 coverage thereafter.

From around 11 hours UT on March 24th the 2-day old Moon passes in front of Venus, blocking it from view for a short while, in an event called a lunar occultation. Because of Solar System geometry, lunar occultations - like solar eclipses - can only be viewed from particular regions of the world during any given event. In this case - the only lunar occultation of the planet's 2022-23 apparition - the event is visible in twilight/darkness from South-east Asia (South-east China, Bangladesh, Myanmaar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Hong Kong). The visibility track and timings can be seen by following the link in the Moon near Venus Dates section below.

By the end of March Jupiter - now 37° to the WSW of Venus - becomes lost in the evening twilight, ending the giant planet's 2022-23 apparition. On March 28th Venus passes 13°.5 North of the star Kaffaljidhma ( Cet or Gamma Ceti, mag. +3.6) in Cetus, a double star comprising yellow and blue components of magnitude +3.5 and +7.0, separated by just 2".7. On March 29th the planet passes 12°.1 South of Lilii Borea (39 Ari or 39 Arietis, mag. +4.5), a Latin name meaning 'Northern Lily'. The name was formally recognised by the IAU in 2017 and is named after the short-lived constellation Lilium, the Lily, a fleur-de-lis placed in this part of the sky during the 17th century by the Frenchman Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) in honour of King Louis XIV. On March 30th Venus passes.9°.9 South of another star whose name was adopted by the IAU in 2017: Bharani (41 Ari or 41 Arietis, mag. +3.6), named after the second lunar mansion in Hindu astrology.

On March 31st Venus passes 1°.3 to the North of the planet Uranus in the fifth planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition. Uranus has been occupying Aries since 2018 and will depart the constellation in May 2024. The conjunction is more favourably positioned for Northern hemisphere observers (see below for more details). Later that same day Venus passes 3°.3 South of the star Ari (Epsilon Arietis, mag. +4.6) which is both a double star and a variable star.

At 12:10 UT on April 3rd the planet passes 45' (0°.75) South of the Ram's Easternmost bright star Botein ( Ari or Delta Arietis, mag. +4.3) which on older star maps marked the hind leg of the Ram.

By late March Venus has brightened to magnitude -4.0, its apparent diameter has increased to 14".0 and its illuminated phase is around 80%. With the elongation now approaching 40° East of the Sun, the planet is setting around 4 hours after sunset (at high-Northern latitudes), 3 hours after sunset (at low and mid-Northern latitudes), 2½ hours after sunset (at Northern Tropical latitudes), 2 hours after sunset (Equatorial and Southern Tropical latitudes) and 1½ hours after sunset (mid-Southern latitudes).

In early April Mercury emerges into the dusk sky in the first of three evening apparitions of the planet during 2023. Due to the high inclination of the ecliptic to the Western horizon after sunset in the Northern hemisphere, this particular apparition favours observers here. As it emerges Mercury is approaching Venus at a rate of about 0°.6 per day. At midnight UT, Mercury (mag. -1.0) is positioned 22°.2 WSW of Venus on the 2nd and 20°.5 WSW of Venus on the 5th. On April 6th Venus passes 11°.0 North of Tau (Omicron Tauri, mag. +3.6), the Westernmost bright star in Taurus, the Bull, entering the constellation itself on April 7th.

Mercury is located 19°.7 WSW of Venus at midnight UT on April 8th. On April 9th Venus and Mercury come to within 19°.5 of each other; in this particular apparition they do not reach conjunction. At midnight UT on the 11th Mercury is 19°.6 WSW of Venus, and on the same day it reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun (19°.5 East) in central Aries. Throughout this paired apparition of Venus and Mercury, the planet Uranus (mag. +5.8) is positioned between the two, although it is now only visible with optical aid between mid-Northern latitudes and the Equator for a very short period after dusk.

Throughout April, Venus is seen at its highest altitude after sunset (for the current apparition) from high-Northern latitudes. At latitude 60º North the planet is positioned 25º above the Western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset. Because of the combination of the planet's high declination and the shallow setting angle of celestial objects at these high latitudes, Venus is above the horizon for a remarkable 4½-5 hours after sunset.

Venus passes South of the famous star cluster known as The Pleiades (pronounced 'PLY-add-eez' or 'PLEE-add-eez'), also called The Seven Sisters (Messier 45), between April 10th and 11th. They are perhaps the best-known star cluster in the night sky, having an angular width of about 1°. Under dark skies the seven brightest stars in the group can be seen with the naked-eye; they are Alcyone ( Tauri or Eta Tauri, mag. +2.9), Atlas (mag. +3.6), Electra (mag. +3.7), Merope (mag. +4.2), Taygete (mag. +4.3), Pleione (mag. +5.1v) and Celaeno (mag. +5.5).Venus is positioned 2°.7 South of Electra (the cluster's brightest Western star) at 10:30 UT on April 10th and 2°.4 South of Atlas (its brightest Eastern star) at 08 hours UT on April 11th.

On April 13th Venus passes 9°.8 North of the eclipsing binary star Tau (Lambda Tauri), positioned at the 'heart' of the Bull figure, whose magnitude varies from ca. +3.5 to +4.0 over a period of four days.

From about April 15th, Mercury's Eastward motion slows considerably as it heads towards its Eastern stationary point, causing Venus to slowly begin catching up with it.

On April 17th Venus passes through its closest orbital point to the Sun, known as the perihelion, at a solar distance of 0.7184 AU, equivalent to 107.5 million kms or 66.8 million statute miles. On the same day the planet reaches an elongation of 40° East of the Sun.

From April 17th to 20th, Venus passes several degrees North of a much larger star cluster called the Hyades (from the ancient Greek word for 'rain'). It is a distinct 'V'-shaped grouping of stars which form the head of the Bull. The cluster comprises around 400 stars spread over an area of about 5° of the sky. At the apex of the 'V' is the star Prima Hyadum ( Tau or Gamma Tauri, mag. +3.6) which, before standardization by the IAU, was known variously as Primus Hyadum or Hyadum. Venus passes 7°.7 North of the star on April 17th. On April 18th Venus passes 6°.0 North of the star Secunda Hyadum (¹ Tau or Delta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.7), a triple star system positioned about half-way along the Northern arm of the Hyades. Before IAU standardization in 2017, the star was also known as Secundus Hyadum or Hyadum II.

Also positioned along the Northern arm is the star Ain ( Tau or Epsilon Tauri, mag. +3.5), marking the base of the Bull's Northern horn. An exoplanet was detected orbiting this star in 2007, named Amateru in 2014 after the Japanese shrines which honour Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the Sun. Venus passes 4°.5 North of Ain on April 19th. At the same moment, Venus passes 7°.9 North of Chamukuy (² Tau or Theta-2 Tauri, mag. +3.7), the brightest of the Hyades' 'true' members, positioned about half-way along the Southern arm of the cluster. The name is that of a small bird in Yucatec Mayan culture and it was officially named by the IAU in 2017. The star 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.

Also on April 19th, Venus passes 1°.3 North of the star Tau (Tau Tauri or 'Tau Tau', mag. +4.2), another star which is not part of the Hyades group. Positioned at the 'bend' of the Bull's Northern horn, it is a multiple-star system and a member of an obscure open star cluster known as Alessi 51.

At the South-eastern corner of the 'V' shaped cluster, marking the 'eye' of the Bull, is the orange-red star Aldebaran ( Tau or Alpha Tauri, mag. +0.9). 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 closer to the Earth than the cluster. Aldebaran is believed to host an exoplanet (Aldebaran b) although recent data analysis has cast some doubt upon its existence. If it exists, it is estimated to have a minimum mass of about six Jupiter masses. Venus passes 7°.5 North of Aldebaran on April 20th.

Mercury reaches its Eastern stationary point in central Aries on April 21st, with Venus positioned 26° away to its ENE. Mercury is then quickly lost in the dusk twilight, leaving Venus speeding on Eastwards.

Later in the month, as seen from high-Northern latitudes, twilight begins to interfere with observation of Venus after sunset, as the Northern hemisphere summer approaches.

From April 23rd through to mid-May, Venus passes to the North of the distinct figure of Orion, the Hunter, which is perhaps the second most recognisable constellation in the night sky (after Ursa Major, which features The Plough or Big Dipper asterism). From April 24th to 25th the planet passes to the North of Orion's bow, comprising the stars Tabit (³ Ori, or Pi-3 Orionis, mag. +3.2) at the centre, ¹ Ori (Pi-1 Orionis, mag. +4.6) at the top and ⁶ Ori (Pi-6 Orionis, mag. +4.5) at the base.

At 15:39 UT on April 27th Venus is positioned at 1.0000 AU from the Earth, i.e. the same distance from the Sun as the Earth's average distance 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 is reducing at an average rate of about 1.1 million kms (690,500 statute miles) per day.

On April 30th Venus passes 19°.4 North of Bellatrix ( Ori or Gamma Orionis, mag. +1.6), positioned at the North-western corner star of Orion's distinctive quadrilateral.

By the beginning of May Venus has brightened further to magnitude -4.2 and its solar elongation is more than 40° from the Sun. The planet has become an interesting telescopic object with an apparent diameter of around 17" and showing a gibbous, 65% illuminated phase.

From around mid-April to mid-May, observers at mid-Northern latitudes see the planet at its highest altitude after sunset during this apparition. At latitude 40º North in early May, some 30 minutes after sunset, Venus is positioned a significant 32º high in the West, setting over 3½ hours after the Sun. For the situation at other world latitudes see the Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration table below).

On May 1st Venus passes 2°.9 South of the star Elnath ( Tau or Beta Tauri, mag. +1.6) which marks the tip of the Bull's Northern horn. The star also carries the name Gamma Aurigae ( Aur) because it 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) and Venus passes 4°.7 to the North of it on May 3rd. The name, adopted by the IAU in 2017, is derived from Chinese astronomy, in which the star is known as the Celestial Gate, part of an asterism contained within a mansion called Bì Xiù ('the Net').

On May 6th Venus passes 5°.8 North of ¹ Ori (Chi-1 Orionis, mag. +4.4), one of two stars which mark the top of Orion's 'club'. Later that same day the planet passes 18°.8 North of Betelgeuse ( Ori or Alpha Orionis, mag. +0.7v), the most distinctive star in Orion, positioned at the North-eastern corner of the Hunter's quadrilateral. It appears orange-red to the naked-eye, due to the fact that it is a red supergiant; astronomers believe it could explode as a supernova at any time. It is also a variable star whose magnitude fluctuates between about +0.0 and +1.3 over a period of several years.

On May 8th Venus enters Gemini, the Twins. As it does so the planet Mars, currently at magnitude +1.4, is situated in the Eastern half of the constellation and is soon to depart it. The Red Planet is now in the final months of its 2021-23 apparition, which saw it reach opposition to the Sun in Taurus at magnitude -1.8 five months earlier.

Between 14h UT and 23h UT on May 9th Venus passes 1°.7 North of the star cluster M35 (NGC 2168). The cluster has an apparent diameter of 30' (about the same apparent size as the Full Moon) and on a dark, clear night it can be glimpsed with the naked-eye as a misty patch of light. On the same day, Venus attains its most Northerly declination for this apparition, at +26° 5' 9" ( = +26°.086 in decimal form). Across the world, the planet now sets at its most Northerly point along the local horizon, the actual point of setting depending upon the observer's latitude. For example, at 60° North in early May, Venus sets in the North-west, while at mid-Northern latitudes it sets in the WNW. Also on May 9th, Venus passes 6°.0 North of ² Ori (Chi-2 Orionis, mag. +4.6), thereby completing its passage of the Hunter's 'club'.

On May 10th Venus passes 3°.5 North of Propus ( Gem or Eta Geminorum, mag. +3.5v), positioned at the trailing foot of the Northern Twin, who is identified from ancient Greek mythology as the legendary Argonaut named Castor. Propus was also referred to as Tejat Prior or Praepes before IAU standardization. On May 12th the planet passes 3°.6 North of Tejat ( Gem or Mu Geminorum, mag. +3.0v), which together with Propus marks the lower part of the Northern Twin's trailing leg. Before IAU standardization the star was known by the name of Tejat Posterior, among others. On May 15th Venus passes 9°.6 North of Alhena ( Gem or Gamma Geminorum, mag. +1.9), at the ankle of the Southern Twin's left leg.

In mid-May Venus is approaching Mars at a rate of about 0°.5 per day; they will come closest to each other at the start of July but in this apparition they will not reach conjunction.

From mid-May observers at high-Northern latitudes begin to note Venus' altitude at any given period after sunset falling away with each passing day; at thirty minutes after sunset the planet is placed around 22° high in mid-May but it will fall to about 11° by mid-June (see horizon diagram for 55° North below).

At 00:50 UT on May 17th Venus passes 42' (0°.7) North of the star Mebsuta ( Gem or Epsilon Geminorum, mag. +3.0) which is positioned at the groin of the Northern Twin. On May 21st the planet passes 4°.9 North of Mekbuda (Gem or Zeta Geminorum, mag. +3.9v) which is positioned at the right knee of the Southern Twin (Pollux).

Also on May 21st, Venus reaches its maximum ecliptic latitude of the apparition, at +2°.8. This should not be confused with the maximum declination which the planet attained just 12 days earlier. Ecliptic latitude (symbol ) is measured in relation to the ecliptic plane (the apparent path of the Sun through the zodiac, which is also the plane of the Earth's orbit in space). The ecliptic itself has a latitude of 0° ( = 0°); latitudes to the North of it are measured positive (+) and those to the South of it are measured negative (-). Declination, on the other hand, is measured in relation to the celestial equator, which is the 0° latitude of Earth projected from the Earth's centre into space; declinations are likewise measured positive and negative in relation to it. The two planes (ecliptical and equatorial) are inclined at 23°.4 to each other, caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis in space. The fact that Venus attains its maximum ecliptic latitude less than two weeks after its maximum declination is simply a chance consequence of Solar System geometry. Neither is an ecliptic latitude of 2°.8 particularly high, since Venus can attain latitudes of up to 8°.5 on some occasions when it is positioned between the Earth and the Sun around inferior conjunction (see, for example, the section on Bi-Daily Observations of Venus on the Venus Conjunctions page).

At 01:50 UT on May 22nd, Venus appears to form an isoscelene triangle with Gemini's two brightest stars, Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.6) and Pollux ( Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.1), the long sides of the triangle measuring 8°.9 and the angular distance of the short side (from Castor to Pollux) being 4°.5. The temporary celestial triangle points South-westwards towards Orion. This celestial geometry is best seen after dusk from the Atlantic Seaboard of the USA and Canada, the Caribbean and Central America.

On May 24th Venus passes 3°.0 North of the star Wasat ( Gem or Delta Geminorum, mag. +3.5), located at the groin of the Southern Twin. The planet passes 7°.4 South of Castor itself on May 28th.

Positioned close to Gemini's Northern border with Lynx is another star whose 'new' name was officially recognised by the IAU in 2017. Jishui ( Gem or Omicron Geminorum, mag. +4.9) is a name derived from ancient Chinese astronomy. Jishui was the water flow from the River Beihe which was used for wine-making and brewing. In the Chinese night sky the river was identified with the stars Castor, Pollux and nearby Gem (Rho Geminorum, mag. +4.2). Venus passes 10°.2 South of Jishui on May 29th.

At 11:08 UT on May 30th, Venus passes 23' (0°.38) South of the star Gem (Kappa Geminorum, mag. +3.5), which is positioned 3°.6 to the South of Pollux; the three appear to form a line 4° in length. At 16 hours UT on the same day the planet passes 4°.0 South of Pollux itself. In 2006 an exoplanet was discovered orbiting Pollux, named Pollux b or Thestias, which is 34 light years distant. Pollux is currently the brightest star in our night sky which is known to host an exoplanet.

In late May, observers at Northern Tropical latitudes see Venus attain its highest altitude after sunset for the 2022-23 apparition. At latitude 20º North Venus is positioned 37º high in the WNW at 30 minutes after sunset, setting some 3¼ hours after the Sun.

At around 10 hours UT on June 2nd the stars Castor and Pollux appear to 'point the way' to Venus in the dusk sky, the three forming a line 9°.8 long. The line points SSE towards the head of Hydra, the Water Snake, some 31° distant. Observers in the South-western Pacific Rim are best positioned to see the line-up, immediately after dusk.

At 21:55 UT on the same day (2nd) the Sun-Venus and Earth-Venus distances are equal, at 0.7220 AU (108 million kms or 67.1 million miles). Seen from far above the Earth's North pole, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now appear to form an isoscelene triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the apex.

Venus enters Cancer, the Crab, on June 3rd, with Mars, now in the centre of that constellation, positioned 10°.1 to its ESE.

At 10:55 UT on June 4th Venus reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun for this apparition (45°.39 East), positioned 7°.1 South-east of Pollux. At this point, telescopes show Venus' disk half-illuminated (phase = 0.50 or 50%) which is often referred to as the moment of dichotomy. The planet's apparent diameter is 23".5 and it shines at magnitude -4.4. When seen from a point far above the Solar System, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now form a right-angled triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the 90° angle. Although the greatest elongation from the Sun takes place on June 4th, Venus is in fact positioned at about 45°.4 elongation for an eight-day period from June 1st through to the 8th. Venus is now moving Eastwards against the background stars at a daily rate of 1° per day.

For a few days around greatest elongation, telescopic observers often attempt to determine the precise moment when the terminator (the line separating 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 was not understood until quite recently. Observers often report the straight terminator a few days earlier or later than the greatest elongation date (early in evening apparitions and late in morning apparitions). Hence in the current apparition, telescopic observers can expect to see a 50% phase on or around June 1st. This is commonly known as the phase anomaly or Schröter's Effect (the latter coined by the late Sir Patrick Moore after the German astronomer Johann Schröter, who first observed the effect in 1793). The phenomenon is thought to be due to Venus' dense atmosphere scattering the sunlight. Blue light scatters more readily than red light (which is why the sky on Earth appears blue) and this effect is also seen on Venus when it is observed using coloured eyepiece filters. The phase anomaly is much more evident when the planet is observed through a blue filter, whilst the anomaly is less evident when seen through filters of other colours, e.g. red or yellow.

For observers around the Equator the date of Venus' maximum solar elongation in 2023 is ideal, since it coincides with the period during which the planet attains its highest position above the local horizon after sunset. On greatest elongation day at the Equator, at 30 minutes after sunset, the planet is a significant 37° above the WNW horizon - the highest altitude seen from any latitude during the 2022-23 apparition. From these latitudes the high elevation of the planet after sunset continues through to about the middle of the month. In fact, when taken in terms of the planet's visual impact and its ease of viewing, the 2022-23 evening apparition of Venus is best seen overall from Equatorial latitudes. In addition, twilight is brief around the Equator throughout the year, so the planet is now seen in true brilliance against a fully dark sky.

Elsewhere on greatest elongation day, the altitude of Venus at 30 minutes after sunset reduces the further away from the Equator the observer is situated. At 30° North, for example, Venus is 33° above the Western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset whilst at 50° North the planet is 23° above the Western horizon under the same circumstances. At 15° South the planet is positioned 34° above the North-western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset whilst at 45° South it is 19° above the NNW horizon under the same circumstances. On greatest elongation day Venus is visible for around 3¼ hours after sunset, a period which is unusually consistent across most latitudes (details of the altitudes, directions and visible durations of Venus after sunset for this apparition can be seen for a variety of latitudes in the table below).

For dedicated telescopic observers of Venus, a high placement of the planet in the sky after sunset - whether or not this takes place around greatest elongation day - is 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.

With greatest elongation day having passed, the planet's phase changes from gibbous to crescentic, i.e. with a phase of less than 50%. Telescopically the next two months will prove most interesting as the crescent becomes more slender in appearance and enlarges day by day as the planet draws closer to the Earth in space.

At around 08 hours UT on June 6th Venus passes 2°.0 South of the star  Cnc (Lambda Cancri, mag. +5.9), a multiple star which, for many observers under typical night sky conditions, is close to the limit of naked-eye visibility. Its brightest component (Lambda Cancri A) was formally named Piautos by the IAU in 2018, after the name of a lunar station in an ancient Coptic manuscript. On June 7th Venus passes 13°.1 North of Cancer's brightest star Tarf ( Cnc or Beta Cancri, mag. +3.5), which is located at the South-western corner of the constellation's lambda-shaped () figure. The name Tarf  is derived from the Arabic Al Tarf meaning 'the End', i.e. the end of the Crab's leg.

Between 02 hours UT on June 13th and 09 hours UT on the 14th Venus passes North of the star cluster Praesepe (pronounced 'pree-SEE-pee') also known as The Beehive Cluster (M44 or NGC 2632) which is located at the centre of the Crab. Under dark, rural skies it is visible to the naked-eye as a hazy patch of light and in suburban locations it is easily seen in binoculars. 'Praesepe' is a Latin word meaning 'manger', so named after the Nativity story in the Christian Bible; indeed, another less commonly used name for the cluster is The Manger. Venus takes about 31 hours to move the angular width of the cluster, passing 48' (0°.8) North of its centre at around 18 hours UT on the 13th.

At 12:55 UT on June 14th Venus passes 1º.1 South of Asellus Borealis ( Cnc or Gamma Cancri, mag. +4.6), then at 22:30 UT on the same day, passes 2°.0 North of Asellus Australis ( Cnc or Delta Cancri, mag. +3.9). The two stars are separated in the night sky by 3º.3 and they flank the Praesepe cluster on its Eastern side. They represent the Northern donkey and the Southern donkey, which were both present in the Nativity story. Venus passes precisely between the two stars at 16:50 UT.

At 13 hours UT on June 15th Venus passes 8°.7 South of   Cnc (Iota Cancri, mag. +4.0), at the top of the Crab figure. At 17:32 UT on the same day Venus occults an eighth-magnitude star in central Cancer with the Tycho catalogue designation TYC 1396−00794−1, a telescopic event which is only visible from a narrow strip of the world from North-eastern Africa through the Middle East and far Western Russia. The star disappears behind the dark limb of Venus and, several minutes later, re-appears from behind its bright limb. Details of the path, visibility zone and timings of the event can be seen at the Belgian VVS website.

On June 19th Venus passes 7º.1 North of Acubens ( Cnc or Alpha Cancri, mag. +4.3), which is positioned at the South-eastern corner of the Crab figure.

From mid-June, observers situated at mid-Northern latitudes begin to see Venus' altitude at any given period after sunset fall increasingly rapidly day-by-day. Thirty minutes after sunset, the planet is positioned some 28º above the horizon in mid-June but it falls to just 14º by mid-July (see horizon diagram for 35° North below). South of about 50º North latitude the planet is also seen to 'backtrack' somewhat, heading a little Southwards along the horizon. This is due to the fact that Venus is now moving Southwards in declination - moving South-eastwards through Cancer - causing its apparent position along the horizon to also head Southward. This 'backtracking' is more evident the further South an observer is located.

In mid-June Venus continues its slow approach towards Mars, which by now has faded slightly to magnitude +1.6. At midnight UT on June 16th the Red Planet is 5°.9 ESE of Venus and at midnight UT on June 18th it is 5°.4 ESE of Venus. As Mars enters Leo at 11 hours UT on June 20th it is positioned 4°.8 ESE of Venus. The crescent Moon passes to the North of the pair from June 21st to 22nd.

In late June, observers at Southern Tropical latitudes see Venus at its best for the 2022-23 evening apparition. Half an hour after sunset, the planet is positioned 33º above the North-western horizon (a third of the way 'up the sky'), setting around 3¼ hours after the Sun. By this time Venus has brightened to magnitude -4.6 and its apparent diameter has swollen to over 30", some three times the size it had appeared back in early February. With an illuminated crescentic phase of around 35% the planet is a beautiful sight when seen through even the smallest telescopes.

Venus enters Leo, the Lion, on June 26th, the final zodiacal constellation in which the planet is seen during the 2022-23 evening apparition. By this time its daily rate of motion has slowed to 0°.7 per day and it is now approaching Mars at a rate of just 0°.14 per day. Over the next seven weeks Venus occupies only the South-western corner of the Lion, positioned to the South of the Sickle of Leo asterism.

From late June, observers at higher-Northern latitudes begin to have some difficulty viewing Venus as it sinks into the bright summer twilight, setting around 1½ hours after the Sun. Meanwhile observers located South of the Northern Tropics continue to enjoy views of the 'Evening Star' in darkness, some 30° high at 30 minutes after sunset and visible for around 3 hours after sunset.

On June 29th Venus passes 24°.5 North of Alphard ( Hya or Alpha Hydrae, mag. +2.0), the brightest star in Hydra. It is an orange giant star whose name is Arabic for 'the Solitary One' since there are no other bright stars for some distance around it.

By the end of June Venus' Eastward motion has slowed to such an extent that it is no longer closing in on Mars which, as its distance from Earth continues to increase, has faded further to magnitude +1.7. For a few days between June 29th and July 2nd, the two planets appear to move together against the background stars of Western Leo, separated by about 3°.6.

From late June and into early July, observers at mid-Southern latitudes finally get their chance to see Venus at its highest and best for this apparition. At 35º South, at 30 minutes after sunset, Venus is placed 29º high in the North-western sky, setting around 3½ hours after the Sun. In stark contrast, high-Northern latitudes now see the planet setting in twilight only an hour after sunset, the altitude of the planet being only 5° or so above the horizon at 30 minutes after sundown.

On July 1st Venus comes to within 3°.5 of Mars before deviating Southwards. Venus crosses to the South of the ecliptic on July 4th and, on the following day, passes 3°.8 North of the star Subra ( Leo or Omicron Leonis, mag. +3.5), a name which is Arabic for a mane or shoulder although in H. A. Rey's 1954 depiction it marks the paw of the Lion's advancing leg. Venus falls below a solar elongation of 40° East on July 6th.

From early July observers at Equatorial latitudes begin to see Venus reduce noticeably in altitude at any given period after sunset. The best of the show now over, the planet falls from 34° high (at 30 minutes after sunset) at the start of July to just 11° at the end of the month - a fall of about 0°.75 in altitude per day (see horizon diagram for the Equator below).

Venus attains its greatest brilliancy for this apparition (mag. -4.7) on July 7th at around 14 hours UT. This occurs when its illuminated phase and its angular size combine to best visual effect. For the 2022-23 apparition, this takes place when the planet is 26% illuminated (phase = 0.26), its angular diameter is 37".3 and its solar elongation is 39°.

As Venus begins to curve Southwards in South-western Leo it passes 1°.1 North of the Mira-type variable star R Leonis on July 9th. The star's magnitude varies between a naked-eye +5.4 and a telescopic +10.5 over a period of about 312 days. When at maximum brightness it appears distinctly red.

Mars passes 42' (0°.7) to the North of Leo's brightest star Regulus ( Leo or Alpha Leonis, mag. +1.4) on July 10th, with Venus positioned 4°.6 to the West. To the naked-eye the Red Planet is now only a feeble pale orange 'star' shining slightly dimmer than Regulus. Venus comes to within 3°.5 of Regulus on July 16th but in this apparition the planet does not pass by it in longitude.

At 07:42 UT on July 11th Venus occults a magnitude +6.9 star with the designations SAO98806, HIP48298 and TYC 0831-01103-1. The occultation is visible low over the Western sky after dusk from a narrow strip of the Earth extending from Western Polynesia to New Zealand. Like the occultation of a faint star in Cancer on June 15th, this star disappears behind Venus' dark limb and re-appears from behind its bright limb, in this instance up to 25 minutes later. The duration of this occultation is much longer than that in June because Venus is now moving much more slowly against the background stars.

Around mid-month Venus pulls further Southwards away from the ecliptic, its solar elongation narrowing from 35° (on July 15th) to 20° (at month's end). This slow Southward movement slightly improves the visibility of the planet after sunset from Southern hemisphere latitudes, despite its reducing elongation, but it increasingly worsens its visibility from Northern latitudes. Indeed, observers at high-Northern latitudes lose Venus from the evening sky around this time as it disappears into the bright dusk twilight.

By mid-July Mars is noticeably moving away Eastwards from Venus, their courses now diverging. Taken at midnight UT, the Red Planet is 6°.0 East of Venus on the 15th, 6°.8 East of it on the 17th and 7°.8 East of it on the 19th.

Around July 15th Mercury (mag. -0.7) enters the dusk sky at the start of its second evening apparition of 2023, approaching Venus rapidly from the WNW at a rate of 1°.6 per day. Mercury is positioned 20°.5 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 15th and 15°.9 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 18th. The waxing crescent Moon is in the vicinity of Mercury and Venus from July 19th to 20th.

At around 09 hours UT on July 20th observers located South of about 30° North are treated to an evening grouping of planets comprising Mercury, Venus and Mars, together with the crescent Moon, clustered around Regulus. The foursome are found low down in the Western sky at dusk (in the WNW sky from latitudes South of about 15° South). The grouping measures about 19° in celestial longitude and about 7° in celestial latitude, with Mercury positioned in Cancer and the other three in Leo.

Mercury (mag. -0.3) is located 11°.6 North-west of Venus at midnight UT on the 21st (on which day Mercury enters Leo) and 7°.6 North-west of Venus on the 24th. Mars is positioned about 12° to the East of the pair, slowly moving Eastwards beneath the belly of the Lion.

From mid-June to mid-July, some thirty minutes after sunset, observers at mid-Southern latitudes had been enjoying views of Venus of around 30° high. However the planet's altitude begins to fall significantly after mid-month. From an altitude of around 28° (at 30 minutes after sunset) in mid-July, Venus falls to just 17° at month's end, a fall of about 0°.8 in altitude per day. The rate of descent will become even more rapid in August (see horizon diagram for 30° South below).

Venus' Eastward motion ceases on July 20th when it reaches its Eastern stationary point, positioned some 3º.8 to the SSW of Regulus. Venus then starts to move retrograde (East to West) and its solar elongation reduces more rapidly. The planet has also faded slightly to magnitude -4.5.

From the third week of July, observers at mid-Northern latitudes begin to have some difficulty viewing Venus as its altitude falls below 10° (at 30 minutes after sunset), setting about an hour later. At 50° North the planet sets precisely at 30 minutes after sunset. Elsewhere Venus sets 1½ hours after the Sun (at Equatorial and Northern Tropical latitudes), 2 hours after the Sun (at Southern Tropical latitudes) and 2¼ hours after the Sun (at mid-Southern latitudes). However, the lengthy visibility of the planet from Southern latitudes is destined to be short-lived, as the planet drops rapidly in altitude with each passing day.

Venus' solar elongation falls below 30° East on July 22nd, the planet becoming lost in the twilight from mid-Northern latitudes from around this time.

At 12:39 UT on July 26th Mercury (mag. -0.0) passes 5°.3 to the North of Venus in the sixth and final planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition. At the moment of conjunction the two planets are heading in very different directions against the background stars: Mercury to the ESE and Venus to the South-west. The conjunction is only seen well from South of the Northern Tropics. After conjunction day, Mercury speeds on Eastwards along the zodiac as Venus continues to head South-westwards.

As the apparition draws to a close in late July and early August, observers equipped with binoculars may attempt to detect the tiny crescent of Venus soon after sunset as it languishes low in the Western sky. Telescopes show a large, thin crescent at this point, over 50" 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).

As the Venusian crescent continues to enlarge it also becomes more slender, so that the dark night side of the planet is well-displayed when seen from the Earth. With the aid of ultraviolet and infrared filters, telescopic observers now begin 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. The Ashen Light is now believed to be caused by the planet's surface glowing red hot due to its extremely high surface temperature. Observers in the Southern hemisphere are best placed to view the Light at this late stage of the apparition due to the higher altitude of Venus above the horizon after sunset.

At midnight UT on July 27th, Mercury is positioned 5°.1 North of Venus. On this day the trio of planets in Leo (Mercury, Venus and Mars) come closest together for this apparition, being about 12° apart in celestial longitude and 5° in celestial latitude. The triangular grouping is observable from latitudes South of about 35° North, low down over the Western horizon at dusk (over the WNW horizon from latitudes South of about 30° South). In the closing days of July Mercury (mag. +1.1) continues to the ESE beneath the Sickle of Leo, passing 7' (0°.11) to the South of Regulus at 00:46 UT on July 29th. The planet is positioned 6°.6 North-east of Venus at midnight UT on the 30th and 7°.7 ENE of it at midnight UT on the 31st.

Venus falls below a solar elongation of 20° East on August 1st and below 15° East on August 4th, having faded still further to magnitude -4.2. At midnight UT, Mercury is located 9°.0 ENE of Venus on the 1st, 10°.4 East of it on the 2nd and 11°.9 East of it on the 3rd.

In early August, observers with exceptionally-good eyesight may attempt to view the crescent of Venus with the naked-eye. Whilst this may seem extraordinary, the planet's apparent size of around 50" brings it very close to the generally-accepted resolution limit of the human eye, i.e. 1 arcminute (60"). Because the planet's solar elongation is now around 15° or less, glare is no longer a problem because the planet is now seen in bright twilight through to its setting, theoretically allowing the very thin crescent (of around 4% illumination) to be discerned more easily.

Since mid-May the planet's Southward movement along the horizon has been very evident from mid-Southern latitudes. Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus has moved from the North-west at the start of June to the WNW by the start of August, which translates to a drift of about 37° along the horizon in a period of two months (see horizon diagram for 30° South below).

On August 7th Venus again passes through the aphelion point in its orbit - its most distant point from the Sun - as it had done so back in late December, some 224 days previous (i.e. one orbital period of Venus). The planet is again positioned at 0.7282 AU (108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles) from the Sun.

By the end of the first week of August Venus has become lost from view from the remainder of the inhabited world, its solar elongation falling below 10° East on August 9th. As it heads into the bright dusk twilight it is positioned in the South-western corner of Leo, crawling Westwards against the background stars at a rate of 0°.55 per day and shining at magnitude -4.1. Mercury, meanwhile, reaches its greatest elongation East of the Sun (27°.4) on the following day, its visibility on this occasion favouring Southern hemisphere observers.

Venus retrogrades back into Cancer on August 12th, heading towards inferior conjunction (passing between the Earth and the Sun) which it reaches on August 13th. At the moment of inferior conjunction, Venus is positioned some 7º.7 South of the Sun's centre ( = -7º.7). After conjunction, the planet heads into the morning sky. Less than a week later, Venus is sighted again from Southern latitudes, rising in the Eastern sky as a 'Morning Star' shortly before the Sun, heralding a new morning apparition (2023-24) which lasts through to April 2024.

 [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, Evening Apparition 2022-23

Viewed from the orbiting Earth, whenever two planets appear to pass each other in the night sky (a line-of-sight effect) the event is known as a planetary conjunction or appulse. Not all planetary conjunctions will be visible from the Earth, however, because many of them take place too close to the Sun. Furthermore, not all of them will be seen from across the world; the observers' latitude will affect the altitude (angle above the horizon) at which the two planets are seen at the time of the event and the local season will affect the sky brightness at that particular time. A flat, unobstructed horizon will normally be required to observe most of them.

Planetary conjunctions are generally considered most noteworthy when they involve two bright planets, and none are more spectacular than those involving Venus. During the course of a typical Venusian apparition, Venus moves through eight or more zodiac constellations and in doing so it passes other planets in the sky - and in the case of Mercury, often on more than one occasion.

Because Venus never appears more than 47° from the Sun, it follows that any planetary conjunction involving Venus will also never occur above this angular distance, i.e. its solar elongation will always be less than 47°. For an Earthbound observer, a superior planet (i.e. Mars and beyond) seen at such a small elongation poses something of a problem, since it will then be considerably more distant from the Earth - and therefore fainter - than when it is closest and brightest in the sky (namely, at opposition, when its elongation is 180° from the Sun). Jupiter is affected to a much lesser extent since it is always above magnitude -1.6 (brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky).

A significant factor in determining whether a planetary conjunction is 'easy' or 'difficult' is the altitude that the fainter planet is positioned as it comes into view in the dusk twilight. This in turn affects the duration for which the pair are visible after sunset.

There are six observable planetary conjunctions involving Venus during the period in question. The most visually impressive is that between Venus and Jupiter on March 2nd 2023 in central Southern Pisces. It is ideally positioned for the Northern hemisphere due to the steep angle of the ecliptic in the Western sky after sunset at this time of year; it is rather less spectacular when seen from the Southern hemisphere, where the pair are seen at lower horizon altitudes. The angular separation of 32' (0°.53) is equivalent to the apparent size of the Full Moon. At latitude 60° North Venus and Jupiter are positioned at a respectable 20° high in the WSW as Jupiter (the fainter planet) becomes visible in the dusk twilight, whilst at 40° North they are 26° high. The highest altitudes are in the Northern Tropics where they are 28° high in the West at Jupiter's first appearance. In the Southern hemisphere the pair are in the WNW upon Jupiter's first appearance, the altitudes being as follows: 22° at latitude 15° South, 18° at 25° South, 14° at 35° South and only 9° at 45° South (where the pair are seen in twilight throughout). The planets set in darkness at latitudes North of about 32° South. Seen through the telescope, Jupiter, with an apparent equatorial diameter of 34", appears 2¾ times larger than gibbous Venus (12".3).

The next best planetary conjunction of the apparition is on January 22nd 2023, when Venus (mag. -3.8) passes 22' (0°.36) South of Saturn (+0.7). Because of the fairly narrow solar elongation (22°), as the ringed planet comes into view in the dusk twilight, the event is only seen at low altitude from across the world. At 50° North the pair are positioned at an altitude of only 10° above the South-western horizon, whilst at latitudes from 30° North to the Equator they are only 16° high in the WSW. As Saturn comes into view in the Southern hemisphere, the pair are only 10° high in the West at 25° South and just 8° high in the WSW at 35° South.

Venus passes 1°.3 to the North of Uranus (mag. +5.8) on March 31st 2023; their location in Aries provides rather better viewing circumstances for Northern hemisphere observers. At latitude 50° North the pair stand 13° above the Western horizon as Uranus becomes visible at nightfall whilst at 30° North they are 18° above the Western horizon. The solar elongation is a comfortable 37°, meaning that Northern hemisphere observers can view the pair in darkness for about 1¼ hours before setting. Southern hemisphere observers find the pair positioned low above the WNW horizon as darkness falls - only about 9° high as Uranus becomes visible at 20° South. Twilight and low altitude render the conjunction unobservable South of about latitude 30° South. Conjunctions between Venus and Uranus always require optical aid since Uranus is at the edge of naked-eye visibility and Venus is characteristically bright - in this case 7,500 times brighter than Uranus(!) - therefore Venus' glare causes difficulty in observing the event.

The closest conjunction of the apparition is also the most difficult one to observe. It takes place on February 15th 2023, when Venus passes just 53" (0'.88 or 0°.014) to the South of Neptune (mag. +7.9) on the border of Aquarius with Pisces. Since Neptune is the faintest of the observable planets in the night sky and Venus is the brightest, it follows that - much like Uranus - the conjunction is a difficult one to observe, complicated even further in this instance by the narrow solar elongation of 27°. Telescopes are always required to observe conjunctions between these two planets, the brilliance of Venus (in this case magnitude -3.8) prohibiting comfortable viewing, the planet having to be positioned outside the telescopic field to enable Neptune to be comfortably seen. The February 15th conjunction can only be observed - with difficulty - from latitudes between about 56° North and 13° South. At best, Northern Tropical latitudes see the pair at just 10° above the Western horizon when Neptune is first glimpsed at nightfall, being visible for only 45 minutes before setting. The further one is located from the Northern Tropics, the lower is the altitude: at both 40° North and the Equator, for example, the pair are just 8° high as Neptune becomes visible.

Conjunctions between Venus and Mercury typically happen two or three times a year but many of them are too close to the Sun to observe; even when they are visible they are often difficult to see because of their narrow solar elongation. The two observable conjunctions between these planets during the 2022-23 evening apparition take place near the start and end of Venus' apparition and are both relatively wide (1°.4 and 5°.3). The widest event on July 26th 2023 is the easier to observe although it is only visible from latitudes South of the mid-Northern hemisphere. As Mercury comes into view at dusk, the planets are positioned 8° high in the West (at 30° North), 19° high in the WNW (at the Equator) and 21° high in the WNW (at 35° South), being visible thereafter for about 40 minutes (30° North), 1¼ hours (Equator) and 1½ hours (35° South).

In the conjunction of December 29th 2022 the pair are only 17° East of the Sun in Sagittarius. The altitudes are nowhere higher than 11° as Mercury comes into view, falling to just 4° over the South-west horizon (at 50° North) and 5° in the WSW (at 35° South), the pair being visible for less than 40 minutes (50° North), 50 minutes (Equator) and 20 minutes (35° South).

The six planetary conjunctions with Venus which are observable during the 2022-23 evening apparition are summarised in the table below.

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 conjunctions measured along the ecliptic 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, December 2022 to July 2023

The Moon is easy to find, and on one or two days in each month, it passes Venus in the sky. Use the following table to see on which dates the Moon passes near the planet during its 2022-23 evening apparition:

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 appear 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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Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration of Venus after Sunset, December 2022 to August 2023

The following tables give the direction and altitude (angle above the horizon) of Venus at 30 minutes after sunset, together with the duration of visibility of the planet after sunset, for the 2022-23 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 should prove 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 the Equator and intermediate latitudes of 55° North, 35° North and 30° South.

The tables allow one to find the highest altitude in the sky which Venus attains for any given latitude during the 2022-23 evening apparition, and in which direction it is seen. For example, observers situated at latitude 40° North will find the planet highest in the sky (at 30 minutes after sunset) in early May 2023, when it is seen at an altitude of 32° towards the West. The duration column shows that the planet is viewable for a little over 3½ hours after sunset.

Northern Hemisphere Latitudes

Southern Hemisphere Latitudes

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Direction & Altitude Diagrams (Horizon Diagrams) for the 2022-23 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 2022-23 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 2022-23 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.

Although the dates indicated in the above diagrams refer specifically to the period 2022-23, Venus has an 8-year cycle of apparitions such that its position in the evening sky in 2022-23 will repeat very closely in the evening sky of 2030-31. The writer refers to this particular evening apparition as Apparition F1; for more details, see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle.

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Naked-eye Venus: Apparitions, Conjunctions and Elongations

Credits

• The dates of Venus' constellation boundary crossings and star passages 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) and planetary conjunction dates were obtained using the software's 'Conjunctions' option of the 'Sky Diary'.
• Directions, altitudes and visibility durations of planetary conjunctions at dusk were determined using the 'Night Sky Map & Planets Visible' utility at TimeandDate.com.

• Details of the most Northerly/Southerly declinations of Venus were obtained from the website The Sky and Its Phenomena by Italian amateur astronomer Pierpaolo Ricci. The future dates of stellar occultations by Venus were obtained from his Occultation of Stars by Planets page.
• The aphelion and perihelion dates of Venus were obtained from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's 'Celestial Phenomena' utility.
• Information on the cultural origins of the IAU's 'newly-named' stars were obtained from the following sources: Revati, Bharani, Chamukuy: UniverseToday.com. Bunda and Tianguan: Wikipedia's Xi Aquarii and Zeta Tauri pages, respectively. Lilii Borea: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales website, with supplementary information from Wikipedia. Piautos: Wikipedia's Lambda Cancri page. Jishui: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales Gemini page.
• The zodiac signs are courtesy of the free graphics site .

Copyright  Martin J Powell  November 2022