We’ve spent the entire summer without seeing a bright planet grace our early evening sky, but that has all changed!
Right now we can welcome back the most dazzling world of our solar system: Venus.
As September progresses, it will appear higher in the western sky at dusk and, as bright as it now appears, it will become twice as bright by February when it swings closer to the Earth.
Now that Venus has returned to our evening sky, the number of UFO reports will surely rise — not by anyone reading this column, I hope! But you may encounter some in your interactions with other, less-experienced skywatchers.
One of the most common misconceptions is that the brilliant light of Venus is an approaching aircraft with its landing light aimed in our direction.
If you live near a major airport and aren’t familiar with the night sky, it’s certainly an easy mistake to make. I fell for this once myself!
Another common explanation I’ve heard is that it’s the International Space Station.
While we can occasionally see ISS appear as bright as Venus, keep in mind that this satellite orbits the Earth at 17,000 mph and appears to drift smoothly across our sky. Venus doesn’t.
I’m most puzzled, however, when I see someone point toward Venus and declare that it’s the North Star. I guess the fact that it lies in the west doesn’t bother them.
Now that Venus has returned to the evening sky, you’ll be hearing some of these misconceptions, so be patient.
Try to explain to folks what they’re seeing; you’ll find that this is a tremendously rewarding way of spending one’s time under the stars.
As it does every month, the crescent moon orbits the Earth and passes by this planet. On Sept. 4, look for it just to the west of Venus shortly after sunset.
Try also to spot the bright star Spica (which appears rather faint in the light of dusk), above and to the left of Venus.
You can use Venus and Spica to predict where the moon will appear over the next two nights. On Sept. 5, look for the moon between Venus and Spica, and on Sept. 6 just to the east of Spica.
When the moon and Venus meet on Sept. 4, be sure to check out this pair with binoculars.
If you’re like I am, you’ll enjoy seeing the faint disk of the full moon alongside its bright crescent.
This ghostly glow is the result of sunlight reflected off the Earth back onto the dark side of the moon and was first explained by the famous 15th-century Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci.
He recognized that when the moon appears as a crescent in our sky, a hypothetical lunar astronomer would see a nearly full Earth in the lunar sky.
And, just as a bright moon illuminates the dark land on Earth, a bright Earth would illuminate the moon’s darkness even more. Today we call this phenomenon “Earthshine.”
I’ve already got my calendar marked; seeing Venus and the moon together is one sight I never get tired of!
