Evening star

[lainiej]

Ooo I've never posted on science before !
What is the bright star thats in the west every evening at the moment?
TIA Elaine x

[sddsddean]

Probably Venus..it is known as the Evening Star, and also as the Morning Star...just to confuse you!

[furrycheeky]

In the west its Venus it is visible for a few hours after the sun sets.
Also look out for Saturn in the south a bit later in the evenings.

[brachiopod]

Welcome to science, lainiej - we're not really high foreheaded boffs in white coats here!

As already said - it's probably Venus. Being second closest to the Sun, (after Mercury), it is always "sun side" of the Earth.

This means that it is only visible around sunset or sunrise - depending where it is in its orbit.

When it appears (to us on Earth) close to the sun - it is daytime, and the sun is just too bright to see anything else (hence we see no stars in the daytime sky).
At the darkest time of the night, Venus, being nearer the sun, is always on the other side of the Earth to the viewer.

So the only time we see Venus is when (to a viewer on earth) it is at a point in its orbit slightly away from the sun, so that we see it just around dawn or dusk.

Hope this helps to explain!!

[lainiej]

Hi all. Thanks very much for your posts. Its all very interesting !! Honestly !!

[Loosehead]

Definately Venus, visible after dawn and before dusk.

Brachio. What do you mean by always Sun side? There are long periods when Venus is the opposite side of the sun so we can't see it.

[brachiopod]

Hi loosehead, I was trying to put it in simple terms, but perhaps it didn't come across well.

By 'sunside', I suppose I meant towards the centre of the solar system, since being an inner planet, Venus' orbit will never take it greater than a few tens of degrees either side of the sun - (viewed along the orbital plane) - hence, from Earth, it is only seen at dusk and dawn.

Compare this to an outer planet which, similarly, will have periods of its orbit where it is "behind the sun" to a viewer from Earth. However, an outer planet will also have a time in its orbit where it is in opposition to the sun with respect to the Earth. (ie. irrespective of the light from the sun issue, they are only visible when facing out of the solar system, and away from the sun)

All planets will spend times in their orbit behind the sun (from an Earth viewpoint) - but only the outer planets can also spend time in their orbits "opposite the sun" (with respect to Earth).

[Loosehead]

I see what you mean now!