Find out how and when you can view Venus at midnight without having to be a wizard! <\/p>

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Venus is a so-called \u2018inferior\u2019 planet. There is nothing wrong with the planet as such, of course: the phrase simply means that its orbit around the Sun lies inside that of Earth\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n
In other words, Venus can never be further away from the Sun than our own planet \u2013 so it stands to reason that anyone on the \u2018midnight\u2019 side of Earth cannot possibly see Venus: they\u2019re facing completely the wrong direction.<\/p>\n
The truth, however, is that you don\u2019t have to be a wizard in order to see Venus at midnight. In very special circumstances, the planet is indeed visible to ordinary non-magical folk in the late night sky.<\/p>\n
Observing Venus at midnight<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The first requirement for observing Venus near midnight GMT is that observers have a clear view towards a low-lying horizon. From the top levels of the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, pupil wizards would probably have such a vista.<\/p>\n
Looking westwards out to sea or down a loch as Harry Potter might have done would certainly help. Mountains would get in the way, but it\u2019s entirely possible to see Venus at midnight when standing on relatively flat ground.<\/p>\n
Next, Venus should be at or near its greatest eastern elongation, as it was in early June 2023.<\/p>\n
This means that when it is an evening object Venus appears to be as far away eastwards from the Sun as possible, so that it sets long after the Sun has dipped below the horizon.<\/p>\n
Also, it helps if the observer is as far west within their own time zone as possible. In a sense, this is a bit of a cheat, because being west of the Greenwich meridian, for example, means you\u2019re not at \u2018local midnight\u2019 yet, but instead positioned just behind it, chronologically speaking.<\/p>\n
Being west of the relevant meridian for the local time zone means that you are effectively lagging behind your clock\u2019s \u2018midnight\u2019.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know where Hogwarts actually is, but if we take as a close approximation the famous Glenfinnan railway viaduct (often seen in the Harry Potter movies as the Hogwarts Express makes its way to the school), we find that it lies some 5.5 degrees west of Greenwich.<\/p>\n
Put it another way, it lags behind \u2018clock\u2019 midnight by some 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
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