Planet Venus – April 2020

Description:

Venus, the second planet from the Sun. It owes its name to the Roman goddess of love. It is relatively similar to Earth in terms of diameter, mass, and composition. On the other hand, its atmosphere is much denser and composed of carbon dioxide.

As it is closer to the Sun than us, we see it lit in a crescent which varies like the Moon, according to its position around the Sun in relation to us. In this photo, we see it in a typical crescent phase with a terminator (line of demarcation between the dark part and the light part) rather diffuse because of its thick atmospheric layer. It is by far the brightest celestial body after the Sun and the Moon and it can even be seen in broad daylight when it is placed favorably and we know where to look.