Back to Glossary

Venus

The second planet from the Sun and one of the brightest objects in Earth’s night sky. Venus is often visible near sunrise or sunset and is commonly referred to as the 'morning star' or 'evening star.'

Source: solarsystem.nasa.gov

APODs including "Venus"

Venus Beyond the Storm

10/09/2002

Venus Beyond the Storm
Image Credit: Lyndon Anderson (Prairiejournal.com) / NASA APOD

A thunderstorm, lightning, a bright star and a bright planet all graced an evening sky for a short while near Bismarck, North Dakota, USA two weeks ago. Thick thunderclouds from a passing storm are the origin of a strong cloud to ground lightning strike. Small areas of rain darken portions of the orange sunset, visible at the horizon above the vast prairie. The planet Venus peeks below the clouds on the lower left of the image. Blue sky shines high above the distant storm, streaked with high white cirrus clouds. The bright star Arcturus glitters near the image top, just left of center. Just a few minutes later, only a memory and this picture remained.