During the past month evening sky watchers have enjoyed Venus the “Evening Star” as it dominates the western horizon just after the sun sets.
As Venus orbits higher in the sky during the next few weeks it also gets brighter.
Each night the patient observer can see Venus move higher as it moves against the background stars.
From April 1 through April 5 Venus will move toward the famous open star cluster group known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters or the “little dipper.”
On the evening of April 3, Venus will appear against the background stars of the Pleiades just on quarter degree south of the clusters brightest star, Alcyone.
While Venus is roughly 25 million miles away the Pleiades is a distant 444 light years from earth in the constellation Taurus.
The next time this event will happen will be April 4 2028.
