VENUS'S GREATEST ELONGATIONS OF 2020

Wide FOV Image Credits: NASA/JPL Solar System Simulator developed by: David Seal

L O A D I N G 

Click on the labels directly above to view Venus at its Greatest Elongations of 2020, the times when it appears farthest from the Sun in our skies.  View these with or without orbits, and zoom in to see how Venus will appear "close-up" on those dates.  If you are viewing Venus on the date of a Greatest Elongation, also check out its  Current Location in Orbit  and  Current Location in the Constellations, and compare these to what you are seeing in the above views.

Because, as an Inferior Planet its orbit is closer to Earth's and farther from the Sun, Venus is much easier to observe than Mercury.  Able to appear as far as 47° from the Sun, when it is east of the Sun it is seen as an "evening star", and when it is west of the Sun it is seen as an "morning star".  In fact, because Venus is so bright,  at times the planet can be seen in broad daylight, and it is generally easiest to take advantage of this fact when the planet is near or at its Greatest Elongations.  However, not many persons have ever seen Venus during the day; so if you do, you're one of the few!

The two diagrams below highlight the overall geometries of Venus's elongations, configurations and phases as an Inferior Planet.  Gain further insight with this  Configurations Simulator  and this  Planetary Phases Simulator.  In both simulators' Orbit Sizes boxes, select Earth as "observer" and Venus as "target".

         

With this  Venus Elongation Explorer  you can easily and quickly find each year's Greatest Elongations of Venus hundreds of years into the past and future.  You will find that there are some years when there are none!  But most years there are one or two.

And while you're at it checking out Venus's Elongations, don't forget that you can also find when viewing the "other" Inferior Planet is optimum.  Check out  Mercury's Greatest Elongations of 2020.

Simulator Image Notes:  1) Fields of View are measured horizontally.  2) Eclipse shadows of planetary moons are not displayed.  3) Light-Travel Time is not included in calculated times.   4) Planet of focus (at center of simulator image) is viewed with its local north "upward", i.e. in the 12:00 midnight direction.  5) Simulator expresses the phase (where applicable) as the absolute value of the phase angle.

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