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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
wb_twilight Astronomical TwilightWhat's Visible Now?
Major Bodies » 

Venus

Altitude: -11.6°   Azimuth: 90.7°   Direction: East

Venus is the the second planet of the Solar System in order of distance from the Sun, being located 0.72 astronomical units from it in the inner solar system. It has a similar size and composition to Earth, with a diameter of 12,104 kilometers and a mass of 4.87 x 10^24 kilograms. The planet has a slow retrograde rotation, meaning it rotates on its axis in the opposite direction to its orbit around the sun, taking 243 Earth days to complete one rotation. Venus has a thick atmosphere primarily composed of carbon dioxide with trace amounts of nitrogen and other gases, as well as sulfuric acid clouds that obscure the surface from visible light. Due to its thick atmosphere and runaway greenhouse effect it experiences extreme surface temperatures, with a maximum temperature of 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius). Venus has been observed and studied since ancient times, with the earliest recorded observations dating back to Babylonian astronomers in the 17th century BCE.

Venus is currently in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 236,040,612 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of Venus in Aquarius on March,19 2024
Map showing Venus in Aquarius on March, 19 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Venus is 22h 43m 05s and the Declination is -09° 29’ 44” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Venus is -3.88 (JPL).

22h 43m 05s
-09° 29’ 44”
Aquarius
-3.88

Today's rise, transit and set times of Venus from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 99.5°
Max altitude: 29.1°
Azimuth: 260.7°
  • Venus is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Given its current magnitude, Venus is visible to the naked eye, easily even from highly light polluted areas.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Additional Resources

Venus Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of Venus
Map showing Venus in Aquarius on March, 19 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Venus is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Venus
RA: 22h 43m 05s
Dec: -09° 29’ 44”
Deep sky finder chart for Venus
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Venus?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Venus in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Venus Distance from Earth

The distance of Venus from Earth is currently 236,040,612 kilometers, equivalent to 1.577834 Astronomical Units. Light takes 13 minutes and 7.3467 seconds to travel from Venus and arrive to us.

236,040,612
1.577834
13 minutes and 7.3467 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Venus from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Venus from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Venus from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Venus to Earth

Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Venus to Earth happens on Sat Dec 12 1615 at a distance of 0.264008 Astronomical Units, or 39,494,992 kilometers:

Sat Dec 12 1615
39,494,992
0.264008

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Venus Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Venus, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Venus as a function of time

Venus Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Venus. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 12103.6 km 0.9499
Mass 4.86732 x 1024 kg 0.8150
Density 5.243 gr/cm3 0.9510
Escape Velocity 10.36 km/s 0.9258
Sideral Rotation -5,832.4320 hours -243.6833
Absolute Magnitude -4.47
Geometric Albedo 0.65

Venus 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Venus computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Venus in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Apparent DiameterDiameter Constellation
2024 Mar 12 22h 09m 03s -12° 33’ 42” -3.88 10.8” Aquarius
2024 Mar 13 22h 13m 50s -12° 09’ 02” -3.88 10.7” Aquarius
2024 Mar 14 22h 18m 37s -11° 44’ 03” -3.88 10.7” Aquarius
2024 Mar 15 22h 23m 21s -11° 18’ 45” -3.88 10.7” Aquarius
2024 Mar 16 22h 28m 05s -10° 53’ 08” -3.88 10.7” Aquarius
2024 Mar 17 22h 32m 48s -10° 27’ 14” -3.88 10.6” Aquarius
2024 Mar 18 22h 37m 31s -10° 01’ 03” -3.88 10.6” Aquarius
2024 Mar 19 22h 42m 12s -09° 34’ 35” -3.88 10.6” Aquarius
2024 Mar 20 22h 46m 54s -09° 07’ 51” -3.88 10.6” Aquarius
2024 Mar 21 22h 51m 33s -08° 40’ 54” -3.88 10.5” Aquarius
2024 Mar 22 22h 56m 12s -08° 13’ 42” -3.88 10.5” Aquarius
2024 Mar 23 23h 00m 51s -07° 46’ 18” -3.88 10.5” Aquarius
2024 Mar 24 23h 05m 29s -07° 18’ 39” -3.88 10.5” Aquarius
2024 Mar 25 23h 10m 05s -06° 50’ 49” -3.88 10.4” Aquarius