Author Joe Rao said that Venus will appear about 230 times brighter than the bluish star.
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And just when is one hour after sunset? The closest planet to the sun will appear around Oct. 8 and will triple its brightness on Oct. 15, which can be seen by the naked eye until the last three weeks of the month. He explains Venus is the third brightest object that is visible in the sky, next to the sun and moon.
Another date you may want to circle on your calendar, is October 17th. It’s not a star, of course.
“A check on the website of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) found that the phenomenon where Jupiter appears to be very close to Venus in the sky, also known as the “Conjunction”, is normal”. Jupiter, while much larger than Venus, is now 10 times more distant, so it’s less bright. This will be the closest conjunction of Mars and Jupiter until 2018 so well worth getting up early to take a look!
You’ll need to be able to see the horizon to gaze at Mercury. It’s roughly a fist-width below Jupiter this weekend. Look right along the eastern horizon to find newly risen Mercury.
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In the first half of the month, Jupiter, Mars and Venus will be readily seen in the eastern sky, 60 to 90 minutes prior to sunrise. It will be above Mercury on Sunday morning and below the little speed demon on Monday. We don’t see them so closely grouped very often and it makes it easy to figure out why your ancestors knew those four “stars” weren’t stars at all. Mars is slightly above Jupiter, but will appear much dimmer and have a bit of a reddish appearance. Besides it, there will be three, ultimately four, bright planets that will put on an awesome show for the skywatchers. This is an ideal time to get your bearings for future mornings. Venus will appear until October 26, shining every evening for about two hours before the first light of dawn.
