Astronomy Essentials

Venus after sunset 2024: Back in the evening sky

Posted by

and

September 25, 2024

Venus in October 2024 shown a few weeks apart with a white arrows indicating its movement. — In October 2024, Venus will lie low along the western horizon shortly after sunset. The thin waxing crescent moon will float near Venus on October 5. In the middle of the month, Venus approaches Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius the Scorpion, passing it on October 25. The rest of the month finds the bright planet hanging low in the southwest shortly after sunset. Venus will continue to ascend and become a dazzling evening star through the end of the year. It’ll reach its greatest distance from the sun in January 2025. Chart via EarthSky.

In October 2024, Venus – Earth’s brightest planet – is shining in the western twilight after sunset. It’ll remain visible in the evening sky through the rest of this year. Greatest elongation – when Venus will be farthest from the sunset – will come on January 9-10, 2025. You can’t miss Venus! It’s exceedingly bright and will penetrate the bright twilight. What fun!

So, in October, look in the sunset direction while the sky is darkening. As the weeks pass, Venus will appear higher and higher above the sunset. It’ll set about 90 minutes after sunset by the end of October. You can’t miss it as the dazzling evening “star.”

As the sun’s 2nd planet, Venus is bound by an invisible tether to the sun in our sky. It’s always east before sunrise, or west after sunset (never overhead at midnight). Venus is the brightest planet visible from Earth and shines brilliantly throughout every morning or evening apparition. Greatest elongation happens when Venus is farthest from the sun on the sky’s dome.

Finder chart for October 5 and 6

Moon on October 5 and 6 Venus and Antares. — About 40 minutes after sunset, the thin waxing crescent moon will hang close to Venus and the bright red star Antares on October 5, 2024. Then the following evening, October 6, the moon will lie between Venus and Antares. Antares is the brightest star in Scorpius the Scorpion. The dark portion of the moon will be glowing with earthshine. That’s reflected light from Earth. Chart via EarthSky.

For precise sun and Venus rising times at your location:

Old Farmer’s Almanac (U.S. and Canada)

timeanddate.com (worldwide)

Stellarium (free online planetarium program)

When will greatest elongation occur?

Greatest elongation is at 4 UTC on January 10, 2025. That’s 10 p.m. CST on January 9. Venus will appear in our evening sky, in the west after sunset. At this elongation, the distance of Venus from the sun on the sky’s dome is 47.2 degrees. After greatest elongation, Venus will quickly sink toward the sunset as it races toward its sweep between the Earth and sun around mid-March 2025.
Magnitude at greatest elongation: Venus shines at magnitude -4.4.
Through a telescope: Venus appears 51% illuminated, near a first quarter phase, 24.5 arcseconds across.

Venus after sunset in 2024 Northern Hemisphere

Venus after sunset: Diagram: Path of Venus over horizon, a pointy arc, with planet's phases with their dates shown along it. — Look for Venus after sunset starting in late July. Venus’s greatest evening elongation in 2024 from the Northern Hemisphere as viewed through a powerful telescope. The planet images are at the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. Dots show the actual positions of Venus every day. Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2024 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

Venus after sunset in 2024 Southern Hemisphere

Diagram: Path of Venus over horizon, a pointy arc, with planet's phases with their dates shown along it. — Venus’s greatest evening elongation in 2024 from the Southern Hemisphere as viewed through a powerful telescope. The planet images are at the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. Dots show the actual positions of Venus every day. Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2024 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

A comparison of elongations

Not all of Venus’s greatest elongations are created equal. That’s because the farthest from the sun that Venus can ever appear on the sky’s dome is about 47.3 degrees. On the other hand, the least distance is around 45.4 degrees.

Elongations are also higher or lower depending on the time of year they occur and your location on Earth.

Diagram: 2 asymmetrical humps, 1 gray and 1 blue, with arced lines in them and dates and — A comparison chart of Venus elongations in 2024. Gray areas represent evening apparitions (eastward elongation). Blue areas represent morning apparitions (westward elongation). The top figures are the maximum elongations, reached at the top dates shown beneath. Curves show the altitude of the planet above the horizon at sunrise or sunset, for latitude 40 degrees north (thick line) and 35 degrees south (thin). Maxima are reached at the parenthesized dates below (40 degrees north bold). Chart via Guy Ottewell’s 2024 Astronomical Calendar. Used with permission.

Venus events from late 2024 and 2025

Note: Times listed are in UTC.

June 4, 2024: Superior conjunction (passed behind sun from Earth)
January 10, 2025: Greatest elongation (evening)
March 23, 2025: Inferior conjunction (races between Earth and sun)
May 31, 2025: Greatest elongation (morning)

Bottom line: At greatest eastern elongation on January 9-10, 2025, Venus is as far from the sunset as it will be for this evening apparition.

Posted

September 25, 2024

Astronomy Essentials

Editors of EarthSky

View Articles

About the Author:

The EarthSky team has a blast bringing you daily updates on your cosmos and world. We love your photos and welcome your news tips. Earth, Space, Sun, Human, Tonight. Since 1994.

View All