Planet guide
Venus tonight
Where Venus sits in tonight's sky depends on your latitude and the hour. Set a location for its altitude, direction and best viewing time.
Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. On dark nights it can cast faint shadows and is often mistaken for an aircraft or a UFO. It's either an 'evening star' (west after sunset) or a 'morning star' (east before sunrise), never both at once.
Location not set
Set a location for tonight's viewing details
Magnitude and distance are the same for everyone. Rise, set, altitude and the best hour are not — they depend entirely on your latitude and longitude.
- Rise, set and best viewing time tonight
- Altitude now and at its best
- Compass direction to face
- An altitude curve across the whole night
Your choice stays in this browser. Nothing is sent to a SnapCosmos server.
What it is
Venus in one paragraph
Roughly Earth's size in diameter (12,104 km vs Earth's 12,742 km), but a very different world. A thick CO₂ atmosphere traps heat: the surface is 465 °C (869 °F), hot enough to melt lead. Sulphuric-acid clouds reflect 75% of sunlight — which is why Venus outshines every star.
Naked eye & binoculars
How to actually see it
You don't need dark skies. Look west just after sunset (evening apparitions) or east just before sunrise (morning apparitions). Venus is unmistakable — brighter than anything else in that part of the sky. Even in a twilight city, it's obvious.
Through a telescope
What you'll actually see in the eyepiece
A small telescope shows Venus going through phases like the Moon: crescent when it's between us and the Sun, gibbous when it's on the far side. Cloud detail is extremely hard to see — even Hubble struggles.
Key facts
Venus at a glance
- Distance from Sun
- 108 million km
- Diameter
- 12,104 km
- Year
- 225 Earth days
- Moons
- 0