December 19, 2020: Brilliant Venus shines from low in the southeast among the stars of Scorpius. The planet rapidly moves through the constellation.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:14 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:22 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.
Venus 2-3 rises later each morning. This morning it rises less than 2 hours (113 minutes) before sunrise. By 45 minutes before sunrise it is less than 10° up in the southeast. It is now past Graffias (β Sco on the chart). Unlike slow-moving Jupiter and Saturn, Venus opened a big gap – 1.3° – with the star this morning. With a binocular note that Venus is near Nu Scorpii (ν Sco) and Omega1 Scorpii (ω1 Sco).
Detailed Note: Forty-five minutes before sunrise, Venus is less than 10° in altitude in the southeast, 1.3° to the lower left of β Sco, 0.5° to the lower right of ν Sco, and 1.2° to the left of ω1 Sco. Venus is below a line from ν Sco to ω1 Sco.
See our summary about Venus during December 2020 and the feature article about Venus as a Morning Star.
Read more about the planets during December.
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