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The orbit of Venus is 224.7 Earth days (7.4 avg. Earth months [30.4 days]). The phases of Venus result from the planet's orbit around the Sun inside the Earth's orbit giving the telescopic observer a sequence of progressive lighting similar in appearance to the Moon's phases. It presents a full image when it is on the opposite side of the Sun.
The greatest elongation of a given inferior planet occurs when this planet's position, in its orbital path around the Sun, is at tangent to the observer on Earth. Since an inferior planet is well within the area of Earth's orbit around the Sun, observation of its elongation should not pose that much a challenge (compared to deep-sky objects, for example).
The planet's period of retrograde motion is 20 days on either side of the inferior conjunction. In fact, through a telescope Venus at greatest elongation appears less than half full due to Schröter's effect first noticed in 1793 and shown in 1996 as due to its thick atmosphere. Venus in daylight at 5 p.m. in the southern hemisphere ...
Elongation to Sun January 17, 2006 02:23:03 Mercury 7°53'south of Venus 6.5° West February 1, 2006 12:13:51 Mercury 1°57' north of Neptune 4.5° East February 14, 2006 15:40:57 Mercury 2' north of Uranus 14.1° East March 26, 2006 21:02:41 Venus 1°52' north of Neptune 46.5° West April 18, 2006 12:27:31 Venus 19' north of Uranus 45.0° West
The name of the phenomenon alludes to the cestus, a girdle or breast-band, of the Ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, customarily equated with the Roman goddess Venus. Since the greatest elongation (angular separation between the Sun and a Solar System body) of Venus is only 45–48°, the inferior planet never appears in the opposite of the Sun's ...
The evolution of the apparent diameter and phases of Venus. A planetary phase is a certain portion of a planet's area that reflects sunlight as viewed from a given vantage point, as well as the period of time during which it occurs. The phase is determined by the phase angle, which is the angle between the planet, the Sun and the Earth.
Venus, our closest planetary neighbor, is sometimes called Earth's twin based on their similar size and rocky composition. While its surface is baked and barren today, might Venus once also have ...
On December 24, 1604 Mercury stood in conjunction with Kepler's Supernova, whereby it was 1.8 degrees south of it. As the elongation of this event to the sun was 15 degree, it was in principle observable. On January 20th, 1605 Venus passed Kepler's Supernova 29 arc minutes northwards at an elongation of 43.1 degrees to the sun.