If you've been marking this crisp, chilly New Year by going for stroll in the early evening twilight, you may have noticed a beautiful bright 'star' in the southern sky: the first to appear as the Sun starts to set.
That planet is Venus, and on 3 January 2025 it was positioned next to a beautiful crescent Moon, which you may have seen if you were gazing up at the sky shortly after sunset.
Make the most of Venus
As evening twilight darkened on 3 January, mag. –4.3 Venus was positioned just under 2° north-northwest of a 16%-lit waxing crescent Moon.
Rui Santos captured the image below of Venus and the crescent Moon from Amor, Leiria, Portugal on 3 January 2025.
Rui says: "I spotted this conjunction of the crescent Moon and Venus after getting out of work. I stopped the car right next to my town's church and framed the top of its tower with the Moon and Venus. Not long after, the sky got cloudy."
Venus is often called the Evening Star or Morning Star because, when it's prominent, it appears like the brightest 'star' in the sky, even though, of course, it's a planet.
In January 2025, you'll see it as a bright 'star' with the naked eye in the south, around 16:00 UTC as the Sun begins to set.
At this point, it will appear as the only 'star' visible in the sky, and it will head towards the southwestern horizon as the sky gets darker, getting lower and lower until it dips out of sight around 20:00 UTC.
What's more, throughout the month you can see Venus get closer and closer to Saturn in the night sky.
Venus and Saturn in January 2025
January 2025 is going to be a good month for both planets.
On 4 January 2025, there'll be a lunar occultation of Saturn, which means Saturn will seem to disappear behind the Moon, then reappear the other side!
And later on in the month, Venus and Saturn will meet side-by-side in the early evening sky.
On 10 January, Venus appears 47.2° from the Sun, having reached a position known as greatest eastern elongation.
This isn't as complicated as it sounds: it basically means that, if you were to draw lines between Earth and Venus, and between Venus and the Sun, those two lines would form a right angle.
On 10 January 2025, Venus will appear close to Saturn, just 7.5° apart.
Follow the two planets throughout January and you'll find they get closer and closer, until 18 January when they'll be just 2.2° apart from one another.
If you're observing Venus through a telescope, you'll notice that after greatest eastern elongation, the planet's appearance changes rapidly.
Because Venus is an 'inferior' planet, meaning it orbits between Earth and the Sun (just like Mercury), we can observe phases of Venus, just like we see phases of the Moon.
On 12 January 2025, Venus's phase is 50%, but by 31 January 2025 it's phase will decrease to 38%.
If you've never taken the chance to observe Venus night after night, whether with the naked eye or through a telescope, January 2025 is a great time to do so!
Share your Venus experiences and photos with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
