Venus
Venus is currently in the constellation of Orion. The current Right Ascension of Venus is 05h 54m 19s and the Declination is +19° 41’ 58” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current magnitude of Venus is -4.50 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Venus [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- Venus is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 47° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, Venus is visible to the naked eye, easyly even from highly light polluted areas.
- See also Venus rise and set times.
- 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 information about Venus available on TheSkyLive:
Venus Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Venus finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
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.
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 98,169,437 kilometers, equivalent to 0.656222 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5 minutes and 27.4580 seconds to travel from Venus and arrive to us.
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.
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 January 1900 and January 2100 the closest approach of Venus to Earth happens on Thu Dec 20 2085 at a distance of 0.26433103 Astronomical Units, or 39,543,360 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Venus brightness
The current visual magnitude of Venus is -4.50.
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.
Venus rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Venus rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Venus touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Jul 30 | 05h 27m 02s | +19° 05’ 30” | -4.56 | 27.9” | Taurus |
| 2020 Jul 31 | 05h 30m 33s | +19° 10’ 59” | -4.55 | 27.6” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 01 | 05h 34m 05s | +19° 16’ 19” | -4.54 | 27.2” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 02 | 05h 37m 41s | +19° 21’ 29” | -4.53 | 26.9” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 03 | 05h 41m 18s | +19° 26’ 30” | -4.52 | 26.5” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 04 | 05h 45m 00s | +19° 31’ 15” | -4.52 | 26.2” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 05 | 05h 48m 43s | +19° 35’ 49” | -4.51 | 25.9” | Taurus |
| 2020 Aug 06 | 05h 52m 31s | +19° 40’ 09” | -4.50 | 25.6” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 07 | 05h 56m 20s | +19° 44’ 12” | -4.49 | 25.3” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 08 | 06h 00m 11s | +19° 48’ 01” | -4.48 | 25.0” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 09 | 06h 04m 06s | +19° 51’ 30” | -4.47 | 24.7” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 10 | 06h 08m 03s | +19° 54’ 42” | -4.46 | 24.4” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 11 | 06h 12m 02s | +19° 57’ 36” | -4.45 | 24.1” | Orion |
| 2020 Aug 12 | 06h 16m 03s | +20° 00’ 09” | -4.44 | 23.9” | Orion |