August is another bright sky month in the northern hemisphere so we’re having to look for late night and early morning events featuring bright celestial objects. Luckily, Venus has us covered. The planet reaches its highest altitude in the morning sky this month, rising more than three hours earlier than the Sun at mid-northern latitudes and shining brilliantly in the eastern sky.
This week, the planet is located in the constellation of Gemini, the Twins. It will be unmistakably bright, shining with an apparent magnitude of –4, making it brighter than everything else in the sky, except the Sun and the moon. This will mean it is visible even from the most light-polluted urban environments.
If you have a small telescope to hand, the crescent phase of Venus will be clearly visible – but stop observing before sunrise, as even a glimpse of the Sun through a telescope can cause permanent eye damage.
Observers in the southern hemisphere can also enjoy Venus in the early morning, but it will appear lower on the eastern horizon. Thankfully, its dazzling brightness should still make it obvious.
The chart is a heads up for next week. On 12 August, Venus and Jupiter will meet in the pre-dawn skies. The chart shows the view looking east from London at 5am BST.
