Venus is currently falling out [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the western evening sky. Second planet [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n…venusfact.html ] from the Sun and third brightest celestial object after the Sun and Moon, Venus has been appreciated by casual sky gazers as a brilliant beacon above the horizon after sunset. But telescopic [
http://csep10.phys.…galileo.html ] images have also revealed its dramatic phases. In fact, this thoughtful composite [
http://webpages.cha…Planets/Venus/venus. html ] of telescopic views nicely illustrates the progression of phases [
http://csep10.phys.…aspects.html ] and increase in apparent size undergone by Venus over the past few weeks. Gliding along [
http://www.venus-tr…index.html ] its interior orbit, Venus has been catching up with planet Earth, growing larger as it draws near. At the same time, just as the Moon goes through phases [
http://www.souledou…venusphases.html ], Venus' visible sunlit hemisphere has presented an increasingly slender, crescent shape [
http://imaginesoftw…astropage/venus/venu s05052004-0258.html ]. Now sharing the sky [
http://skyandtelesc…article_1194_1.asp ] with a crescent Moon, on June 8th Venus [
http://sunearth.gsf…index_vthome.htm ] will actually cross the face of the Sun, the first such transit since 1882 [
http://canopus.saao…tovwell.html ].
Explanation
Venus is currently falling out [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the western evening sky. Second planet [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n…venusfact.html ] from the Sun and third brightest celestial object after the Sun and Moon, Venus has been appreciated by casual sky gazers as a brilliant beacon above the horizon after sunset. But telescopic [
http://csep10.phys.…galileo.html ] images have also revealed its dramatic phases. In fact, this thoughtful composite [
http://webpages.cha…Planets/Venus/venus. html ] of telescopic views nicely illustrates the progression of phases [
http://csep10.phys.…aspects.html ] and increase in apparent size undergone by Venus over the past few weeks. Gliding along [
http://www.venus-tr…index.html ] its interior orbit, Venus has been catching up with planet Earth, growing larger as it draws near. At the same time, just as the Moon goes through phases [
http://www.souledou…venusphases.html ], Venus' visible sunlit hemisphere has presented an increasingly slender, crescent shape [
http://imaginesoftw…astropage/venus/venu s05052004-0258.html ]. Now sharing the sky [
http://skyandtelesc…article_1194_1.asp ] with a crescent Moon, on June 8th Venus [
http://sunearth.gsf…index_vthome.htm ] will actually cross the face of the Sun, the first such transit since 1882 [
http://canopus.saao…tovwell.html ].
Explanation
