THIS MONTH’S PLANETS
Venus takes pride of place in the evening sky as we head into the New Year
M ars has been our planet of the month for the past few issues, but now it has started to fade and pull away from Earth again, another planet can enjoy the spotlight. During the month ahead, Venus will be a lovely sight in the western sky after sunset, an ‘evening star’ very obvious to the naked eye as a bright silvery-blue spark shining above the roofs and treetops as soon as darkness falls. And it will have company, too.
On the evening of 29 December you’ll see a fainter ‘star’ very close to Venus, to its upper right. This will be Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, and on that evening the two worlds will be less than two degrees – or four Moon widths – apart in the sky. They’ll look like a double star to the naked eye, and will be even more beautiful through binoculars or a small telescope. However, they will be low in the southwest as the sky darkens, and if you have trees, buildings or hills on your skyline in that direction they may obscure them. If you want to see this cosmic close encounter in all its glory, you’ll need to find somewhere with a clear view to the southwest. As the days pass the two planets will appear to move apart, with Mercury dashing quickly towards the Sun, leaving Venus shining on its own. Its visibility will improve a little each evening, and by 15 January Venus won’t be setting until two hours after the Sun, giving you plenty of time to enjoy seeing it shining in the twilight.