Venus makes welcome progress in post-sunset visibly this month, after being mired within the thick and light-polluted ambiance on the sundown horizon since reappearing within the night sky at mid-July.
Initially of December, the second planet, shining at magnitude –4.16, lies 12° up within the west-southwest at 4.33pm GMT, 40 minutes after sundown in London. It’s a stupendous sight, hanging low within the south-southwestern sky quickly after sundown. Venus’ obvious diameter of 17” is just too small for its part to be resolved by binoculars (it’s obvious when near a skinny crescent), although might be seen by a small telescope. Be careful for a younger thin-crescent Moon mendacity under Venus quickly after sundown on 4 December.
By the tip of 2024, Venus is a beacon at a stunning magnitude –4.36, and is considerably higher positioned, having virtually doubled its altitude to climb to an altitude of twenty-two° in London at 4.41pm, the tip of civil twilight (19° at 4.35pm from Edinburgh). A small telescope exhibits Venus’ gibbous part declining from round 68 to 55 per cent.
