Venus at eastern elongation
Venus is at eastern elongation, meaning it is east of the sun in our sky. So it rises after sunrise and sets after sunset.
So Venus is visible near the western horizon after sunset during its eastern elongation, and it’s measured in degrees as our sky is a dome.
Venus at greatest eastern elongation
Venus is at greatest eastern elongation, meaning it is as far east of the sun as possible in our sky. So it rises as late after sunrise as possible and sets as late after sunset as possible.
At its greatest eastern elongation, the Sun-Earth-Venus angle is as large as possible. Venus can reach as high as 47.3°E and as low as 45.4°E from the sun at its greatest eastern elongation.
Venus at its greatest eastern elongation marks the best time to observe Venus near the western horizon after sunset. At that time, Venus appears nearly in its third quarter phase in the sky.
How often does Venus reach its greatest eastern elongation?
Venus takes about 584 days to orbit the sun with respect to Earth, called the synodic period of Venus.
That’s why Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation once every 584 days.
Venus at greatest eastern elongation in January 2025
Venus will reach its greatest eastern elongation on January 10, 2025, at 04:00 UTC (11 p.m. EST on January 9), when the planet will be 47.2°E from the sun on our sky’s dome.
After the greatest eastern elongation, Venus will rapidly approach the sunset glare as it moves towards its sweep between the sun and Earth on March 23, 2025 – its inferior conjunction position.
When to see Venus: Venus will be visible from early September 2024 through early March 2025 in the evening sky.
Where to look: Look near the western horizon (in the sunset direction) around an hour after sunset for Venus.
Brightness of Venus: After emerging in the evening sky in early September 2024, Venus’s brightness will slowly increase until it reaches its greatest brilliancy (peak brightness) in mid-February 2025, and after that, its brightness will slowly decrease for the rest of evening apparition.
Venus will shine with a magnitude of -3.8 in early September, with a magnitude of -4.5 in mid-February, and with a magnitude of -4.3 in early March.
Venus will shine with a magnitude of -4.3 near its greatest eastern elongation (on the evening of January 9, 2025).
Visibility through the naked eye: Venus will be easily visible to the naked eye as it appears brighter than all the stars in the night sky. It is the brightest planet visible from Earth.
Visibility through a telescope: Venus will appear 51% illuminated (nearly in its third quarter phase) and 24.4 arcseconds in diameter near its greatest eastern elongation (on the evening of January 9, 2025). After that, Venus will become thinner and larger day by day until it reaches its inferior conjunction position.
Visibility throughout the globe: Venus’s greatest eastern elongation in January 2025 will not favor either hemisphere.
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