Morning Star, Evening Star

That bright object seen this February of 1977 in the evening sky is the planet Venus. The second planet out from the sun, Venus has a distance from the sun about two-thirds that of the earth. Right now it sits in the sky above the setting sun and so is called the ''evening star." In about 225 days (September and October of 1977), Venus will appear as the "morning star," since it will rise in the eastern sky ahead of the sun. Again in about 584 days from now, during September and October of 1978, Venus will appear in the evening near the setting sun.

Because of the appearance in both evening and morning skies at different times, the Greeks thought Venus was two separate objects, which they named Phosphorus and Hesperus. Venus shines by reflected sunlight. As Galileo discovered with his newly invented telescope in 1610, Venus, like the moon, exhibits phases and so sometimes is cresentic. At maximum brightness it is visible by day with the naked eye. Also, now visible to the left of Venus is the planet Jupiter, less bright than Venus but still brighter than the brightest start.