• Mark Lovewell

Where is Venus, Goddess of Love?

The brightest planet in our morning sky has disappeared, or is about to. Venus is so low in the southeastern sky at dawn, you probably can’t find it. The planet, which in mythology is a Roman Goddess of love, is both extremely far away and also slipping into the glare of the bright sun.

Don’t try looking too hard for it, because the glare of the rising sun can be harmful. Venus will continue to appear to move closer to the Sun for another two weeks.

On Saturday, Oct. 25, Venus is in superior conjunction, farthest from the Earth. It appears to almost pass behind the sun. The sun is about 93 million miles away. Venus is 159 million miles away.

But the Goddess of Love returns later in November, when it has moved away from the sun, and appears as our evening planet. Venus will appear in its usual brilliance just in time for the holidays in our evening sky.

On Sunday night, the gibbous moon rises in the early evening. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, the Bull. The moon remains gibbous through Tuesday, coming up later and later in the evening.

The last quarter moon rises around midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and is in the zodiacal constellation Gemini.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Oct. 10 6:47 6:09
Sat., Oct. 11 6:48 6:07
Sun., Oct. 12 6:49 6:05
Mon., Oct. 13 6:51 6:04
Tues., Oct. 14 6:52 6:02
Wed., Oct. 15 6:53 6:01
Thurs., Oct. 16 6:54 5:59
Fri., Oct. 17 6:55 5:57
Temperatures and Precipitation
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
Oct. 3 61 56 0.01
Oct. 4 61 57 0.07
Oct. 5 66 51 0.07
Oct. 6 62 42 0.00
Oct. 7 66 42 0.00
Oct. 8 72 62 0.09
Oct. 9 71 45 0.03

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 67º F

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