For nearly 40 days, Venus moves eastward among the stars of Sagittarius. During early December, it reaches its greatest brightness. It gleams in the southwestern sky after sunset. On November 7, the moon joins Venus. A second grouping occurs on December 6. The planet and the moon appear together in likely their best show of the apparition. Venus is very bright with a crescent moon under it. The planet stops moving eastward after mid-December and begins its rapid descent from the evening sky.