Venus: becoming "lost" for awhile

Event Date: February 20th

Time: 12:22(.32) PM

Brief

   Although we have lost Venus to the glare of the Sun, I will show why we have lost it quickly over the last few weeks:

(1) the Sun is quickly moving north, at about 9º over the last 30 days alone.  That may not seem like much, yet it means it is rising much earlier than it did at the time of the December solstice (almost its earliest of the season).

(2) the declination gap between Venus and the Sun has shrunk dramatically, as it has moved to appear closer to the Sun pre-conjunction, and obviously as a result, almost the same as the Sun's declination instead of more north of it as was the case late last year.

   In the image below, I show the ecliptic and celestial equator as well as Venus' orbit.  

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

Detailed

Not only do we see a big difference in Venus' orbit-angle in the image compared to that in September and October; we also see how it has sunk a bit south of the ecliptic.  The close side of the orbit is seen well north of the ecliptic, yet that is only how we see it as we move in our own orbit.  As Venus passes superior conjunction, it will remain south of the ecliptic and take several weeks to emerge to a visible altitude.  After all, it will be late springtime with late Sunsets and long twilight.  Even as Venus pulls away from the Sun, it will become more and more south of our star until late fall.  It will still be visible because of its near -4 magnitude and improving around the time of greatest elongation, yet not too high above the horizon.  The next time that we get Venus back in the morning sky for most of the first 8 months of 2014, its apparition will be a little better on average than this evening one.  Regardless of that, you can still enjoy Venus' phases during the upcoming, evening showing: starting as a tiny near-fully illuminated disc, to a much larger disc as a waning crescent shortly before inferior conjunction.  Yep, just a preview of what is to come!