Sunset with Venus visible in the sky near the moon
You can see the planet Venus for yourself, without a telescope. Venus is so bright that it’s even brighter than most of the stars in the sky. Just look near the horizon just before the sun comes up or just after the sun sets. In this picture, Venus is a bright spot just to the left of the moon.
Because you can see Venus best right before dawn or right after sunset, people used to call Venus the Morning Star and the Evening Star (without really knowing they were the same!). But really Venus isn’t a star at all; it’s a planet.
