VENUS FLYBY: Now is a great time to look at the second planet from the sun. Like the Moon, Venus has phases, and at the moment it is a 6% crescent. Moreover, it is bright enough to see in broad daylight. Yesterday, Mark Wloch pointed his Celestron C8 telescope at the blue sky over Southgate, Michigan, and this is what he saw:
"I captured Venus during daylight with a jet passing by," says Wloch. "What a beautiful conjunction."
Yes, it is easy to see Venus in broad daylight, but it is even easier to see the planet at sunset when Venus pierces the darkening sky like a beacon 150 times brighter than a 1st-magnitude star. Indeed, some sky watchers think Venus is an airplane. A quick look through a pair of binoculars, however, reveals the crescent. Point your optics southwest after sunset. No sky map is required; you can't miss Venus.
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