Venus will be at the brightest moment (magnitude -4.5) of this excursion into the morning sky, on Sep. 18, theoretically at 12 by Universal Time.
Venus is magnified 150 times to show the crescent shape you can see with binoculars. Arrows through solar-system bodies show their movement over 5 days, against the starry background.
The brightest moment is the first of the “cluster of climaxes” in this Venus apparition, as is explained over several pages in my occasionally risqué book about the planet and goddess. There are also the maximum illuminated area (Sep. 19), dichotomy (Oct. 22), and greatest elongation westward (Oct. 23).
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Thank you, Guy, for your encouragement! I hope to entice people to go out and see the lady. https://bkellysky2.wordpress.com/2023/09/21/a-fine-morning-with-jupiter-and-venus/
I’d send you a nice photo or two of the crescent, if you’d like. Hope your print version of the cal is ready soon and you are doing well.
Thank you, Mark. I may be able to get the printed version going tomorrow.