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That Bright “Star” in the Western Evening Sky is Venus

-- Ward | February 19, 2020

Artist impression of a supermassive black hole

Question:

There’s a bright light in the western sky tonight. I have an app for the star constellations and nothing appears in that region. I’m in Wisconsin and it’s 8:23. I saw this last Saturday and it’s in the sky again tonight. Any clue to what this is? Thanks from Wisconsin.

-- Ward

Answer:

The bright planet Venus is an “evening star” these days, appearing in the western sky about 20 degrees above the horizon. The Farmer’s Almanac is a nice resource for night sky object identification, with a nice summary of night sky “happenings” for each month.

-- Jeff Mangum

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