Media Release
Udupi, Sep 20: On the evening of Friday September 21, Venus will reach its maximum brightness for this year, said Dr A P Bhat, professor of Physics, Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers Club of Poornaprajna College, Udupi.
Although the planet will exhibit a waning crescent phase in telescopes, it will be much brighter because of its closer proximity to earth.
For last eight months the evening star, Venus, is shining in the evening sky. It slowly disappears and moves towards morning from December onwards. Right now the angle of illumination between the sun, earth and Venus makes it appear like a thin crescent.
The average distance of Venus from sun is nearly 11 crore kms and that of earth from sun is 15 crore km. But the distance between earth and Venus is not same. For every 18 months it will come closer to the earth nearly 4.5 crore km, he added.