Venus was at inferior conjunction on Aug. 13, in line between the Earth and the sun. Now it is swinging away from that line, speeding ahead of the Earth in its faster orbit.
In fact, Venus has erupted into view in the eastern morning sky during the past couple of weeks. When September opened, this resplendent "Morning Star" was rising just prior to dawn's first glow at around 4:30 a.m. local daylight time. But with each passing morning, Venus has been rising ever higher and has been getting a little brighter; it will attain its greatest brilliance on Sept. 19, appearing at an eye-popping magnitude of -4.8. This is 23 times as bright as the brightest star in the sky, Sirius (in Canis Major, the Big Dog), and seven times as bright as the next-brightest planet, Jupiter.
And by month's end, it's rising just prior to 3:30 a.m. and will precede the sun by some three and a half hours!
Source: www.space.com
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