2024-2025, After superior conjunction, Venus appears as the Evening Star until spring 2025. Look for it in the western sky after sundown.
By Jeffrey L. Hunt
Venus, Evening Star
The accompanying chart shows the setting time interval of Venus (green line), bright stars near the ecliptic, and the moon (circles) compared to sunset, the bottom line on the graph. The rising times, compared to sunset, of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are included.
The chart is for Chicago, Illinois, from times calculated by the US Naval Observatory. The moon is in slightly different places for locations near the same latitude.
While the chart appears complicated, it is not. It is simply the difference between the setting times of the selected bodies and sunset. For the planets’ rising times, they are the intervals of the bodies’ rising times compared to sunset. The three phases of twilight are included.
After superior conjunction on June 4th, Venus sets after the sun and is graphed on the chart. During late October, Venus sets at the end of evening twilight. This is indicated where the Venus line intersects the astronomical twilight line at 92 minutes after sundown. Venus is visible low in the western sky during twilight. When the crescent moon is nearby, the views are pretty.
When the Venus line crosses the line of another star, they set at the same time. A conjunction occurs near this date. Conjunctions are marked with white boxes.
Moon and Venus
Venus is the Evening Star, appearing in the western sky during the final four months of 2024 and until spring of 2025.
The moon’s appearance with Venus or another celestial body occurs when the moon circle is near that body’s line. Interesting groupings of the moon with those bodies are annotated. Any event with a separation less than 7.5° fits into a binocular field.
The largest separation of Mercury and Venus from the sun, known as the greatest elongation, is indicated with a yellow triangle. Venus’ greatest brightness is marked with a yellow diamond.
For Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, their oppositions with the sun occur when the planet rises at sunset.
Planet Oppositions
Interestingly, when the planet rises as Venus sets, they are in opposite directions. These events announce when the two planets begin to appear in the sky at the same time, albeit in opposite directions. For example, Saturn rises as Venus sets on August 18th. Each night Saturn is higher and farther westward after sundown. By January 2025, Venus and Saturn appear close together in the western sky. Venus passes the Ringed Wonder on January 18th.
During mid-January, Venus reaches its maximum setting interval after sunset, after it passes greatest elongation from the sun on the 9th. The planet approaches Earth reaching its maximum brightness near February’s final days. Venus rapidly overtakes Earth, setting earlier each evening, finally passing between Earth and Sun on March 22nd, after passing Mercury at mid-month.
Watch Venus in the evening sky during this appearance.
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