Venus – Astronomy Now

Venus’ brilliant evening showing for the rest of the year

6 September 2023 Mark Armstrong

Venus is now a brilliant ‘morning star’ seen for a short time in the pre-dawn eastern sky.

Analysis of Magellan data shows apparent volcanic activity on Venus

21 March 2023 Astronomy Now

Data captured by NASA’s Magellan Venus probe in 1991 shows what appears to be lava flows from an active vent on the side of a huge volcano known as Maat Mons.

Venus and Jupiter’s spectacular early-evening coming-together

27 February 2023 Mark Armstrong

Venus and Jupiter are a marvellous sight soon after sunset on 1 March, when they lie just over a full Moon’s diameter apart. .

Spectacular Venus’ early-evening show

9 February 2023 Mark Armstrong

Venus is a dazzling ‘evening star’ now visible soon after sunset. Yet it’s just at the beginning of a marvellous apparition lasting through to summer.

Everything you need to know about planet Venus

18 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The second planet from the Sun, Venus is often described as Earth’s evil twin, with a climate that has dramatically diverged from Earth’s.

After a 30-year hiatus, NASA is returning to Venus with two new probes

4 June 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA is funding two new missions to Venus, one an orbiting radar mapper and another that will drop a small probe into the cloud-shrouded planet’s churning atmosphere.

Possible evidence found for life on Venus

14 September 2020 Keith Cooper

The best evidence for life beyond Earth has been found in the most surprising of places – the atmosphere of Venus. A team led by Jane Greaves, who is a professor at Cardiff University, has detected the presence of phosphine gas in Venus’ clouds.

Expert astronomy: watch the Moon occult Venus

18 June 2020 Mark Armstrong

The Moon occults Venus on the morning of Friday 19 June in an exciting and quite rare event, which can be observed across the whole of the UK through a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.

Here’s your chance to spot Mercury, as it cosies up to Venus this weekend

21 May 2020 Mark Armstrong

Look to the north-west this evening (21 May), soon after sunset, to enjoy a spectacular coming together of brilliant Venus and shy and elusive Mercury.

Beginners’ astronomy: That bright light you can see in the western sky? That’s Venus

17 April 2020 Keith Cooper

During the warm evenings and clear skies of recent weeks, you may have noticed a brilliant, shining beacon towards the west, far brighter than anything else in the night sky other than the Moon. That’s the planet Venus.