Venus at 20% crescent phase

Event Date: May 8th
Time: 8:06(.12) PM

Brief

  Venus continues to wane as a crescent shape, although it also becomes larger in angular size.  It is still very bright, and setting a little over three hours after the Sun.  This gap in Sunset will change more rapidly as Venus approaches us in orbit.  Not long before that, we will see it in retrograde, with its separation from the Sun quickly decreasing.
   The first image is a zoom-out, as a reminder of its current position with the Sun.  It is 33º in altitude at the time that the Sun sets, and currently still far enough separated from the Sun to see with the eye alone in the daytime; that gets more and more challenging as we get towards the end of the month.

Detailed

   The second image is a 1/4º field of view, showing Venus.  Using the area formula that we have in past weeks, it has dropped slightly below the 300 arc-second mark which it achieved at greatest brilliancy.  At 21 arc-seconds in radius and 20% illuminated, that calculates to 290.2 for [arc-second] area. 

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Venus' visible area will continue to drop as it continues to wane.  As it does, so will the apparent magnitude.  Because Venus is approaching us quickly, the brightness only changes by a small amount.  By the time that such is noticeable, the planet is already lost in the glare of the Sun, and too hard to see anyway. 
   Besides remembering to never look directly at the Sun, make sure not too look towards the Sun's position, within what is about 20º to either side; its surrounding glare alone can be hard on the eye.  Viewing from inside an observatory dome with the roof turned properly, is best, for blocking out enough Sun.