Venus greatest distance from the morning sun January 2027

When to watch: Venus – the brightest planet – will emerge in the morning sky before dawn in November 2026. It’ll remain there until sometime in June 2027. Greatest elongation – when Venus will be farthest from the sunrise – will be at 19 UTC on January 3 (2 p.m. CST). And – for all of us on Earth – Venus will be super-bright in the morning twilight.
Where to look: Look in the sunrise direction before sunrise. Venus is the glorious “morning star” for all of Earth.
Greatest elongation distance for Venus will be 47 degrees. That’s the distance Venus will be from the sun on our sky’s dome.
Greatest elongation magnitude: Venus will reach a dazzling brightness of magnitude -4.3 at greatest elongation. It’ll finish the month of January at -4.1 magnitude.
Through a telescope: at elongation Venus will appear 50% illuminated, in a 3rd quarter phase, 24.76″ arcseconds across. By month’s end, Venus will be 18.86 arcseconds across.
Note: 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. At the January 2027 greatest elongation, Venus will be slightly higher in the sky from the Southern Hemisphere than from the Northern Hemisphere due to the angle of the ecliptic (path of the sun, moon and planets) on January mornings.

Venus before sunrise in the Northern Hemisphere

Venus before sunrise in the Southern Hemisphere

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)

A comparison of elongations

Not all of Venus’ 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.

When are the best elongations?

As hinted at above, morning elongations of Venus (or Mercury) are best around the autumn equinox (around September for the Northern Hemisphere, around March for the Southern Hemisphere). These elongations, called western elongations because Venus is west of the sun, happen when the ecliptic – path of the sun, moon and planets – makes a steep angle to the morning horizon. A steep ecliptic angle keeps the planets more directly above the sunrise or sunset.

Springtime elongations that occur in the morning (around March for the Northern Hemisphere, around September for the Southern Hemisphere) are less glorious because of the shallow angle of the ecliptic. When the ecliptic makes a shallow angle with respect to the horizon, that angle keeps the planets closer to the bright sun’s rays.

How far can Venus be from the sun?

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.

Venus events, 2026 and 2027

January 6, 2026: Superior conjunction (passed behind sun from Earth)
August 15, 2026: Greatest elongation (evening)
September 18, 2026: Venus at greatest brightness (evening)
October 24, 2026: Inferior conjunction (races between Earth and sun)
January 3, 2027: Greatest elongation (morning)

Bottom line: Look for Venus before sunrise. It’s blazingly bright, and emerges at dawn in November! It’ll be at its greatest distance from the sun on January 3, 2027 and be visible in the morning sky through June.

Read more: Venus brightest in the evening sky September 18

Read more: Why is Venus so bright in our Earth’s sky?

Venus in the daytime: The best ways to see it