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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
north SunriseRise: 7:51  
clear_day Transit: 11:50  
SunsetSet: 15:49 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
Major Bodies » 

Venus

Altitude: 9.8°   Azimuth: 237.8°   Direction: West-South-West

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 Virgo.

The current Right Ascension of Venus is 14h 15m 00s and the Declination is -11° 09’ 11” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Venus is -4.14 (JPL).

14h 15m 00s
-11° 09’ 11”
Virgo
-4.14

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: 101.0°
Max altitude: 27.4°
Azimuth: 258.8°
  • Venus is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 10° above the horizon.
  • 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.

Available Resources

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.

Finder chart of Venus in Virgo on December,09 2023
Map showing Venus in Virgo on December, 09 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Finder chart of Venus
Map showing Venus in Virgo on December, 09 2023
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: 14h 15m 00s
Dec: -11° 09’ 11”
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 154,684,509 kilometers, equivalent to 1.034002 Astronomical Units. Light takes 8 minutes and 35.9720 seconds to travel from Venus and arrive to us.

154,684,509
1.034002
8 minutes and 35.9720 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
2023 Dec 02 13h 41m 08s -08° 09’ 50” -4.18 17.0” Virgo
2023 Dec 03 13h 45m 34s -08° 33’ 57” -4.18 16.9” Virgo
2023 Dec 04 13h 50m 02s -08° 58’ 00” -4.17 16.8” Virgo
2023 Dec 05 13h 54m 30s -09° 21’ 57” -4.17 16.6” Virgo
2023 Dec 06 13h 58m 59s -09° 45’ 48” -4.16 16.5” Virgo
2023 Dec 07 14h 03m 29s -10° 09’ 32” -4.15 16.4” Virgo
2023 Dec 08 14h 08m 02s -10° 33’ 06” -4.15 16.3” Virgo
2023 Dec 09 14h 12m 33s -10° 56’ 33” -4.14 16.2” Virgo
2023 Dec 10 14h 17m 08s -11° 19’ 49” -4.14 16.1” Virgo
2023 Dec 11 14h 21m 42s -11° 42’ 53” -4.13 16.0” Virgo
2023 Dec 12 14h 26m 18s -12° 05’ 47” -4.13 15.9” Libra
2023 Dec 13 14h 30m 56s -12° 28’ 27” -4.12 15.8” Libra
2023 Dec 14 14h 35m 34s -12° 50’ 56” -4.12 15.7” Libra
2023 Dec 15 14h 40m 13s -13° 13’ 09” -4.11 15.6” Libra