We reveal several methods to help with spotting Venus during the day

CAUTION

Never observe or image the Sun with the naked eye or any unfiltered optical instrument

June’s challenge is to locate the planet Venus. You may think this is easy, after all Venus is the brightest of the planets and at present is located approximately 30° to the west of the Sun in the morning sky. Not much of a challenge then… However, we want you to locate it in the day, which is not quite as straightforward.

Before we continue, it’s important to mention that although the Sun is 30° to the east of the planet, it’s still a potential danger. A good way to protect yourself from its harmful rays is to stand in the shadow of a fence or building so you can’t see the Sun, but just the area of sky to the right of it.

So how do you go about looking for a bright planet during the day? Using nothing more than your eyes, there are a couple of ways to approach this. One is to work out how far Venus is from the Sun in degrees and use your hand at arm’s length as a general guide to its whereabouts. Your clenched fist at arm’s length is approximately 10° across, your outstretched hand 25°. These measures can be used with care to gauge an angular distance from the Sun or height above the horizon, enough to put you in the right area. Measures like this are a valuable skill to learn for many aspects of astronomical planning.

The table above shows the altitude of Venus above the southern horizon, this being another convenient way to locate it as long as the weather is clear at the times shown. Then there’s the ‘hanging on’ method. For this you can get up before sunrise, locate Venus against a dark sky and stay with it past the point of sunrise.

Finally, there’s the Moon locator method. This only works if the Moon is nearby of course, a situation that occurs on one or maybe two days every month. The Moon will appear close to Venus on 26 June and, as long as you can locate the Moon during the day, Venus should be relatively easy to spot to the south and west of it on this day.

Clear skies are a must for this of course, but non-hazy conditions with well-defined clouds can work well too because such features can help you to navigate around patches of the sky. They can also work against you by hiding Venus just at the moment you’re looking in the right direction. Whichever method you use, if you succeed, you’ll certainly feel a sense of achievement. Once you’ve done this for the first time, it also makes subsequent efforts much easier.