If you are outside in the early twilight, it is almost impossible not to notice that very bright light high up in the western sky. That is Venus, and it outshines everything in the sky except the sun and the moon.
On June 4, she will reach her highest point in the evening sky and then make a quick dive towards the sunset as the planet races between us and the sun. Venus and Mercury are the only planets that go through phases like the moon because they can come between us and the sun. A great time to view Venus with a small telescope would be from now until the end of summer. Watch the planet shrink from half-lit to a thin crescent in August.
When the wounded Greek god Uranus fought the ancient god Cronos, his blood dripped into the sea foam at the edge of the ocean. From this unlikely mixture emerged the most beautiful goddess of them all, the drop dead gorgeous goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. Her name in Greek means “from the sea foam,” and we get our word aphrodisiac from her. Her Roman name was Venus, and the planets were named for the Roman names of the gods, not the Greek names.
The reason Venus is so bright in the sky is that the planet is completely enshrouded in a very heavy layer of clouds. These are not our friendly clouds of water vapor, though. They are composed of sulfuric acid, which we commonly use in car batteries here on this planet. The clouds are so heavy that standing on the surface of Venus would be like standing on the floor of the ocean with 3,000 feet of water above you. They are heavy enough to flatten a car.
Maybe you have dreamed of an exotic vacation on the planet Venus. Make sure your accommodations are air conditioned because the temperature there is a scalding 900 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to melt lead. Venus, you see, is suffering from a runaway greenhouse effect from which it will never recover. That will be our fate too in the deep future, but that is another story.
Get totaled!
Did you get to see the total eclipse of the sun back in August 2017? If you missed it or want to see another one, you have another opportunity coming up: April 8, 2024. Put that date on your calendar.
This one starts near the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. From there the path of totality, as it is called, travels northeast to Mexico then enters the United States at Texas. After Texas the eclipse will pass through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and exit the country from Maine.
Millions of Americans live within an easy road trip of the eclipse path so to say it might get crowded is an understatement. If you are interested, make plans early.
Because of the mechanics of how the orbit of the Earth and moon fit together, the longest possible total eclipse is 7 minutes and 32 seconds. This one will last a maximum of 4 minutes and 28 seconds, which is a couple of minutes longer than the display in 2017. You might think that I am trying to split hairs here, but when you are talking about one of the grandest shows nature has to offer, every second counts.
If you have never seen a total eclipse of the sun, do not miss this chance. It is truly a life-changing experience. I saw my first one from Maine with my Dad when I was 15 years old. I can still remember the experience as vividly as yesterday. It will be a long wait until the next one this good which comes around in August 2045.
