On this night, Mercury and Venus are the “stars” of the show! The pair of naked-eye planets appear on either side of a thin crescent Moon after sunset. Mercury is the planet above the Moon and Venus is below.
If you turn around to look at the eastern horizon, see if you can work out which star-like object is Saturn!
When and where to look:
7pm, 12th October above the western horizon.
Use the above image as a guide. Astronomical images provided by SkySafari, a Simulation Curriculum Company, All rights reserved www.simulationcurriculum.com.
For telescopes
Venus was once thought to be a tropical paradise! Astronomers from hundreds of years ago believed that due to the presence of an atmosphere, and the fact that Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth, Venus would experience conditions similar to the equatorial regions of Earth. Today, we know this is far from true, with the average surface temperature of Venus reaching over 450 degrees Celsius and occasional bouts of acid rain!