Venus...

[Externet]

Since day one I can remember as kid, Venus has been at about the same location by 8pm; by west and at the ~same elevation I have seen it along the years.

 

Am I wrong? Isn't Venus a planet and by orbiting the sun it should gradually change its location ?

[D H]

Not a morning person, are you?

 

Venus is moving toward superior conjunction and will not be visible in a month or so (late March). A few weeks later in will then be visible in the early morning, just before sunrise, and will remain visible in the morning (but not in the evening) for most of the rest of the year.

[npts2020]

Also, since Venus (and Mercury) is closer to the sun than Earth it will never appear directly overhead and be near the horizon whenever rising or setting, closely following or being chased by the sun.

[Sisyphus]

Also, since Venus (and Mercury) is closer to the sun than Earth it will never appear directly overhead and be near the horizon whenever rising or setting, closely following or being chased by the sun.

 

Well, it can be directly overhead in the daytime, you just won't be able to see it with the naked eye because the sun is too bright.

 

The point, to say it more explicitly, is that Mercury and Venus will always appear within a certain radius of the Sun. This is because they orbit the Sun closer than the Earth does, and so from the perspective of Earth every point on their orbits will be in roughly the same direction as the Sun. However, they're not bright enough to see when the Sun is fully up, and obviously you can't see them in the middle of the night, because the Sun is on the other side of the Earth. So you're only going to ever see either of them near the horizon, around dawn or dusk. And whether you see them at dawn or dusk depends on the relative positions of the Earth and Venus/Mercury in their respective orbits, i.e. whether they'll be in the sky east or west of the Sun.