                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 January 8
    Many images of Venus are shown superposed. Together, they make an arc
    from the top, around the left, to the bottom. The smallest images of
   Venus are at the top and show nearly complete circles. The largest are
        at the bottom and show thin crescent. phases. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                             The Phases of Venus
                  Image Credit & License: Stéphane Gonzales

   Explanation: Venus goes through phases. Just like our Moon, Venus can
   appear as a full circular disk, a thin crescent, or anything in
   between. Venus, frequently the brightest object in the post-sunset or
   pre-sunrise sky, appears so small, however, that it usually requires
   binoculars or a small telescope to clearly see its current phase. The
   featured time-lapse sequence was taken over the course of six months in
   2015 from Surgères, Charente-Maritime, France, and shows not only how
   Venus changes phase, but changes angular size as well. When Venus is on
   the far side of the Sun from the Earth, it appears angularly smallest
   and nearest to full phase, while when Venus and Earth are on the same
   side of the Sun, Venus appears larger, but as a crescent. This month
   Venus rises before dawn in waxing gibbous phases.

      Free APOD Lecture: January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of
                           Association of New York
                       Tomorrow's picture: Thor's hat
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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