Venus dazzles in the dusk
January 2020 will be a little sparse for planetary observers, with a few of the regular ‘wanderers’ either too close to the horizon for easy visibility or completely invisible on the far side of the Sun. That said, there’ll still be plenty to see.
Starting with (mag. –1.0, dia. 4.9”, Jan. 15), the innermost planet is effectively lost to view during January, extremely low on the eastern horizon as the month begins, reaching superior conjunction (ie. on the other side of the Sun) on the 11th and then reappearing very, very low on the western horizon after sunset. Next month won’t be much better, but by March the planet will be more easily visible in the morning sky.
