The head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Eng. Majed Abu Zahira, said that the planet Venus reaches the highest point in the sky during its morning appearance in 2022 with the sunrise of Monday, February 28, shining at a height of 33 degrees towards the southeastern horizon, and it is easily seen with the naked eye.
He added that the planet Venus moved to the dawn sky in early January 2022, and when it is currently monitored with a telescope, its disk will now appear illuminated by 37% with sunlight.
He pointed out that the phases of Venus can be accurately determined. When the planet is in the evening sky, and it passes between the Earth and the sun – as happened on January 9, the distance between the Earth and Venus was decreasing, so that the inner pairing occurs, but the size of its apparent disk is large; Because it was close to our planet.
Engineer Abu Zahira said: “Now that Venus passes between us and the sun and the distance between Earth and Venus increases, the planet’s disk has increased in brightness, but the size of its apparent disk decreases as a result of its distance from us.”
He added that by October the disk of Venus will be 100% lit by the sun, and at that time the planet will be five times farther from Earth than now, and it will be less bright.
He pointed out that the Greeks in ancient times called Venus “Hesperus” when it was observed in the evening sky, and “Vesporus” when it was seen in the dawn sky, and it is not known if they knew that they were one body or not.
Attached image: Venus, the bright white point, and to the lower right is Mars, then the crescent of the end of Rajab, and to the far left is Mercury, then Saturn.