When the full moon is visible, it's possible to read a newspaper if your vision is good. The brightness of the full moon washes out many stars and deep sky features, however, and so observational Astronomers head home for a good night's sleep whenever the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the moon. You might think this would be the ideal time to view the moon, but the moon's actually more interesting when it's at quarter phase - the shadows accentuate lunar relief.

Of course, when the moon's full, shadows are quite obvious. Though extremely dim compared to direct sunlight, the nearby moon is by far the brightest object in the sky, other than the Sun. The Sun's apparent magnitude is -26.7 and the full moon's apparent magnitude is -18. Venus is usually the third brightest object in our sky - Jupiter can be brighter on occasion.

Currently, Venus gleams at a magnitude of -4.6 in the southwest sky soon after the Sun sets. If you know where to look, you can even see it in the daytime. We had a science question on this in May of 1998. When trying this, you're likely to have a bit more success if you stand in the shadow of a building or large tree so you can peer at the sky and minimize interference from the Sun. Look about 40 degrees (your fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees of sky) to the upper left of the Sun before it sets. On February 26, in mid afternoon, Venus will be about 1 fist above (north) and slightly to the right (west) of the crescent moon. This may make it easier to find. Try at first with the unaided eye, and if that doesn't work, look with binoculars. It's actually easier to see Venus in the daytime when it's a morning "star" rather than an evening "star." When Venus is up before the Sun rises, you can keep track of it in the brightening sky and should be able to focus on it even after the Sun rises. Although Venus is easier to see in daylight from the clear skies of the Texas panhandle, it's still possible to see it from places like Houston or Washington D.C.

One thing for sure, once the Sun sets, you can't miss Venus. It glitters like a diamond. Approximately every 19 months, Venus reaches its maximum brilliance. Since Venus orbits the Sun more rapidly than the Earth, it passes us every 584 day or 19 months. However, when Venus is closest to us, we can't see it since it's directly between us and the Sun. Jupiter is to the upper left of Venus, about the same apparent distance from Venus as Venus is from the Sun. It's not as bright as Venus, but it's more than twice as bright as the brightest star we can see, Sirius. Sirius can be found on the opposite side of the constellation of Orion from Jupiter. Also, Saturn can be seen very near Jupiter. It's not near as bright as Jupiter - look for it slightly below Jupiter.

Because the moon is waning now and will be "new" on Friday the 23rd, Venus doesn't have to compete with the moon to get our attention. The full moon is approximately 250,000 times brighter than Venus. As February comes to a close, Venus attains its maximum brightness. It's often only up for only an hour or so either before the Sun rises or after it sets, but now it's up for over 3 hours. From our vantage point, each day Venus appears to be gaining on or moving closer to the Sun, and at it's brightest, we see it in its crescent phase. Since Venus orbits the Sun 13 times in almost the exact amount of time it takes us to make 8 trips around the old Sol, every 8 years it'll appear in the same constellation, be the same brightness and be in the same position relative to the horizon as it was 8 years previously.

Venus is often the source of UFO reports. Former President Jimmy Carter even filed out a UFO report, when he was the governor of Georgia, of a bright object that he though was hovering above the horizon. It turned out to be Venus. He shouldn't feel to embarrassed since during World War II, it was rumored that a Navy vessel fired on Venus. Supposedly, the crew wasn't able to identify a dazzling light that was hanging above the horizon on the open ocean, and taking no chances, they opened fire. Our eyes often play tricks on us. When patchy clouds are in the same part of the sky as is Venus, the movement of the clouds can give the illusion that Venus is in motion.

If skies are clear, and if you're outside of the city and away from street lights, see if you can detect your shadow in the light cast by Venus. Though it's feeble compared to the brightness of the full moon, or any phase of the moon for that matter, it's possible to see your shadow from Venus's light if conditions are just right. You'll need to find a really dark location. It helps that Venus is particularly brilliant this month, and if there's snow on the ground, so much the better - it's easier to see subtle shadowing on light-colored surfaces. If you're lucky enough to be going somewhere to get away from winter for a few days, a white sandy beach is a good substitute for snow. So, while you're enraptured by that tropical sunset over the turquoise sea, it's a perfect time to think about Venus and shadows. Well, perhaps if you're there by yourself, and you likely will be if you think about this stuff too much.

Anyway, what's really interesting is that the shadows cast by Venus are much more distinct than you would imagine. To our eyes, the light from Venus appears to originate from a point rather than a disk, such as light that comes from the Sun or moon. The bigger or closer the disk, the blurrier the shadow. Incidentally, the same goes for light bulbs, the tinier filaments produce darker shadows than do the larger filaments in larger bulbs.

While your outside anyway, and especially if you're in a rural area, try to see if you can see the faint glow of the zodiacal light about an hour after sunset. Again, if you have clear, dark skies, you should notice a wedge or pyramid of light extending upward from the direction where the Sun set. This is the light from the Sun scattering off dust particles in plane of the solar system. It's more readily visible in late winters after dusk and in late summer before dawn. Amazingly, the zodiacal light as well as the brightest portion of the Milky Way (the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius) can also cast a shadow on the ground if you're viewing area receives almost no extraneous stray light. Don't fret if you miss seeing Venus in all its glory, you wont' have to wait long to see it again, by June it'll have moved past the Earth and will then be the dazzling "morning star," heralding the rising Sun.

For more about this see the Skywatcher's Diary - http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/diary.html 

Also see the Science Question for May 1998, the book Secrets of the Night Sky by Bob Berman and Astronomy Cafe by Sten Odenwald.