Last night right after the sunset I was looking at the sky with my
astronomical Celestron binoculars, and noticed something unusual. There a was a star, a very bright one, which I haven’t seen before, and which appeared very suddenly. First I thought it was a star, when I came home and started learning about it and reading books. I realized that it’s might be a comet, not a star… And most likely it’s Venus. So, here’s what I’ve learnt:
Venus is our nearest neighbour in space apart from the moon, about the same size as Earth. At times, our orbits around the sun bring us close to each other, that’s why we see so a so bright star on the sky. As the weeks go by we’ll see this "new star" rise higher and higher in the sky after sunset. It will also become even brighter, mostly because it is getting closer to us as it chases us in our own orbit around the sun.
In the late May it will be as high in our night sky as it ever gets because it reaches a position where it is at its maximum apparent distance from the sun. After this point Venus will start moving back towards the sun, sinking quite quickly lower and lower until, by late July.
So, go out after the sunset today, take a pair of your
binoculars and explore the sky, Venus and other planets, comets and constellation. Who knows, you might discover a new planet, or a star… And it’ll be called after you, isn’t that amazing? So, don’t sit at home watching TV, go out and start adventures…. Good luck and clear skies to you!!!