What's That Very Bright ‘Star' In The East Before Sunrise?
If you've been outside shortly before sunrise this week, you've likely noticed one very bright point of light in the eastern sky. Is it the fabled North Star? Or the Dog Star? It's neither — its Venus, Earth's sister planet, which is relatively close to Earth on its shorter trip around the sun.
After spending the last six months in the evening sky for all to see, on March 23, Venus passed between Earth and the sun — a moment sky-watchers call inferior conjunction — and returned to the pre-sunrise morning sky. The second planet from the sun was the beginning of a new apparition — a period when a planet is visible in the night sky — that will last for the remainder of 2025.
Not surprisingly, Venus is nicknamed 'Morning Star' for when it's visible before dawn in the east and 'Evening Star' for when it can be seen in the west after dark.
Venus is the third brightest object in the sky, dimmer only than the moon and the sun, but this weekend, it gets just about as bright as it ever can.
According to EarthSky, Venus will reach "greatest brilliance" this weekend when it shines at -4.4 magnitude (for context, the sun is -26.7 magnitude and the full moon -12.6 magnitude — the lower the number, the brighter the object).
It won't get as bright again in the post-sunset sky until September 2026 and the pre-dawn sky until November 2026.
Venus is so bright because it is so close to Earth. That's despite it currently being a crescent, as the young moon is each month. How can that be? Venus, an inner planet as seen from Earth, was between the Earth and the sun on March 23, having spent the previous few months approaching Earth. The distance between Venus and Earth is increasing, so we're seeing its disk shrink, but its crescent shape gets larger. It's now about a quarter-lit. It's bright largely because of its global clouds of sulphuric acid, which reflect light very well if you can fetch a pair of binoculars or a telescope and try to see Venus as a crescent while you can.
Fresh from forming a much-hyped celestial smiley face with Saturn, Venus will continue to shine alongside its sixth planet from the sun. However, it's not a fair fight since Venus will shine about 240 times brighter than Saturn.
This weekend, Venus will rise in the east above Saturn, with a very slim crescent moon — just 4%-lit — detectable on Saturday. However, it's a new moon on Sunday, when our natural satellite will be positioned between the Earth and the sun. As of Tuesday night, it will be visible as a slender crescent moon in the west shortly after sunset.
All of this means it's been a fabulous week for stargazing. If you had clear skies this week and didn't go outside after dark, you missed a trick because the moon has been down in the pre-midnight hours since Monday. Why not circle some dates in next month's calendar when the same thing will happen again for about 10 nights after the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Tuesday, May 20? You might even catch a falling star or two.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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