This weekend, when looking up at the night sky after sunset, look toward the west, the same direction the sun sets. There will be an especially bright star — although it’s not a star, it’s the planet Venus. While gazing at Venus toward the direction of the setting sun, it is also a good time to note that Venus actually travels along the same path across the sky as the sun, in fact, all the planets travels along the same path. This path is known as ecliptic.
Venus will be visible at dusk for the rest of the month. It will set at 9:28 p.m. Friday and will set two minutes later each day. Venus is in one end of the Pisces constellation that is like a sideways V-shape and has a circle on the end pointing down. Venus has been in the lower side of the V that has circle at the end of it.
According to NASA, Venus isn’t the closest planet to the sun but is still the hottest. Venus is unusual because it spins the opposite direction of Earth and most other planets. Since Venus rotates backward, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. As Mercury, Venus doesn’t have any moons.
If interested in seeing Venus through a telescope, the San Mateo County Astronomical Society and the San Carlos Parks Department will host a public star party at Crestview Park in San Carlos on Saturday, Feb. 22. Telescope setup begins at sunset and observing starts one hour after sunset.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astrological questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.