Venus, the planet that shines brightest in the night sky seen from Earth, it is known as the «morning star» wave «evening star»because precisely the first and last hours of the day are the best to see it.

This planet, the second closest to the Sunis one of the easiest to see in the sky, but some factors must be taken into account to identify it and not confuse it with other planets that can be seen from Earth and other celestial bodies.

Venus, the twin planet

Like all planets in the solar system (except Earth), The name Venus comes from Roman mythology. Specifically, it is the name of the goddess of love and beauty (the greek aphrodite).

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With a diameter of approximately 12,103 km, It is the closest in size to Earth of all the planets, which is why it is sometimes called “the twin planet«Its surface is rocky and full of mountains and volcanoes.

Dense atmosphere and very high temperatures

The atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense and is composed mainly of carbon dioxide (96.5%) and nitrogen (3.5%), with clouds of sulfuric acid. This composition causes an uncontrolled greenhouse effect that makes it have the highest surface temperatures in our entire solar system (they can reach up to 475 °C).

Besides, the pressure on the planet’s surface is very high: 90 times more than that of Earth and equivalent to being almost 1 km underwater.

Slow and «upside down» rotation

We could say that a day on Venus lasts longer than a yearsince its rotation on its axis is very slow and lasts approximately 243 Earth days, while its orbital period around the Sun is approximately 225 Earth days.

Out of curiosity, Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most planets.which means that the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east. Additionally, Venus and Mercury are the only planets that do not have a Moon.

How to identify Venus in the sky

Seen from Earth, Venus is bright white. It is, after the Moon, the brightest object in the night skymaking it easy to see with the naked eye, without the need for binoculars or telescopes.

It is located closer to the Sun than the Earth, which means that always appears near the Sun. Thus, the best times to see it are just after sunset or shortly before sunriseand that is why it is known as the “evening star” or the “evening star” (when seen in the afternoon) or as the “morning star” or “morning star” (when seen in the morning).

Get informed about When does a conjunction of the Moon with Venus occur? or even a lunar occultation of Venus can also help you identify it and enjoy its movement in the celestial firmament. The next conjunction between the Moon and Venus occurs on November 5 at sunset; The planet will be seen in the night sky very close to the Moon, so it may be a good time to make your first identification.

One option is to check in advance what the sky will look like at dusk or dawn so you know where to look for it. On its X account (formerly Twitter), the Royal Astronomical Observatory of Madrid (@IGN_RObsMadrid), of the National Geographic Institute, Share the main observations of each week with maps of the celestial dome at sunrise and sunset.

When to see the planet Venus

Venus is most visible when it reaches its maximum elongation with respect to the Sunwhich occurs approximately every 9 months. To see it you must look at the western sky shortly after sunset or at the eastern sky just before sunrise, depending on the visibility phase at any given time.

Venus is visible at dawn for about 263 days (about eight and a half months). Next, disappears behind the Sun for about 50 days and then reappears again at sunset for another period of 263 days approximately. Then Venus turns invisible again for about 8 days (as it passes in front of the Sun) before reappearing more or less just before dawn.

To see exactly if and when it is visible from your location, you can check online tools like Time and Date or the Stellarium app.

On very rare occasions, Venus aligns perfectly with the Sun and Earth and it looks like a black spot that crosses the Sun. However, there is still a long way to go before we can enjoy this phenomenon again, because, as Time and Date indicates, it will not happen again until December 10 or 11, 2117.