Venus is often called the \u2018Morning Star\u2019, and similarly, it is often called the \u2018Evening Star\u2019.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/09\/03_Moon-NLCs-and-Venus_Allan-41e511f-e1673533931877.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C379"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>When Venus is at its best, it appears as a bright spot of light, instantly distinguishable as it\u2019s the most prominent \u2018star\u2019 in the twilight<\/a> sky.<\/p>\n But why is Venus only visible at sunrise and sunset? Why is it either a \u2018morning star\u2019 or an \u2018evening star\u2019? And why does Venus have phases, like the Moon?<\/p>\n It\u2019s all to do with Venus\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n Find out why Venus spins backwards<\/a> and the science of Venus transits<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The orbit of Venus, like Mercury, lies inside the path that the Earth takes around the Sun. Being closer to the Sun, it is not always visible from the Earth.<\/p>\n For instance, at inferior conjunction, when Venus is between Earth and the Sun, the planet has its unlit or night side turned towards us.<\/p>\n At this time, it appears very close to the Sun in the sky, and to all intents and purposes is out of view.<\/p>\n Approximately 71 days before and after inferior conjunction, Venus reaches a position called elongation, when the planet lies at its greatest angular distance from the Sun, which is about 47 degrees.<\/p>\n At eastern elongation it is the Evening Star, seen up to a few hours after sunset before setting to the west.<\/p>\n At western elongation it becomes the Morning Star, visible to the eastern horizon up to a few hours before dawn. From the latitudes of the British Isles it is never visible at midnight.<\/p>\n At superior conjunction, when Venus is on the far side of the Earth to the Sun, the planet presents a full phase because its day side is facing the Earth.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Garry Hunt Published: Friday, 13 January 2023 at 12:00 am What\u2019s that bright star I can see in the morning sky, appearing much brighter than any other star still visible in the early dawn? This is a question you may have asked yourself on occasion, and the chances are that the answer is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40460,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star.jpg",1024,448,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star-300x131.jpg",300,131,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star-768x336.jpg",768,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star.jpg",800,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star.jpg",1024,448,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/why-venus-is-called-the-morning-star-or-the-evening-star.jpg",1024,448,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Garry Hunt Published: Friday, 13 January 2023 at 12:00 am What\u2019s that bright star I can see in the morning sky, appearing much brighter than any other star still visible in the early dawn? This is a question you may have asked yourself on occasion, and the chances are that the answer is that…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/01\/venus-phases-conjunction-elongation-5da0ff7.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C428"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/05\/Venus-inferior-conjunction-34aa117.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C468"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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