Sky Tonight—January 7, Venus farthest west of sun in

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The most brilliant of all the planets, Venus, reaches its farthest point west of the sun in Earth’s sky on January 8, 2011. Astronomers call this a “greatest elongation” of Venus. At such times, Venus shines as the brilliant morning ’star’ in the east before sunrise. At its greatest morning elongation, Venus typically rises 3 hours or more before sunrise. Because the orbit of Venus lies inside of ... Full Story