New photos have revealed the "love planet" Venus looking unrecognizable as it prepares to line up for a striking conjunction later this week. The hellish world has transformed into a slim crescent, which can look like a giant fiery rainbow under the right conditions.
On March 23, Venus will reach its inferior conjunction, or the point at which it lies directly between Earth and the sun. On this day, the sun's glare will make it almost impossible to see the planet. But even if we could see it, it would be covered in shadow, similar to a new moon. Over the last few weeks and months, the planet has been waning as it gets closer to alignment, giving it an increasingly crescent-like appearance.
Astrophotographer Douglas Kostyk set out to capture the disappearing planet on March 8 at the Marian and Max Farash Center for Observational Astronomy in Ionia, New York — when only around 7% of Venus was visible. But his photos also showed that the crescent looked like a cosmic rainbow.
The striking rainbow effect is caused by particles in Earth's atmosphere refracting, or splitting apart, different wavelengths of light like a prism, according to Spaceweather.com. "When Venus is near the horizon, refraction separates the red crescent from the blue," Spaceweather.com representatives wrote. "The crescent is so thin, the splitting of colors is obvious."
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The same effect was also captured by Kevin R. Witman, who snapped a less-detailed image of Venus' rainbow crescent from Cochranville, Pennsylvania on March 9. In this image, the rainbow's colors are inverted compared to Kostyk's photo because the planet was in a different part of the sky relative to the observer.
More recently, on March 16, astronomer Raffaello Lena captured video footage of the rainbow effect from near Rome, Italy. In this instance, atmospheric turbulence caused the light coming from Venus to shimmer and become distorted, making it appear as if the rainbow was "on fire," Spaceweather.com reported.
Parading planet
Venus has become unusually bright in recent weeks as it gets closer to Earth, which has made it a prime target for astronomy enthusiasts since early February onwards. During this time, the hellish world also starred in a rare planetary parade, when all of the solar system's worlds appeared in the night sky at one point or another.
Venus was one of the most clearly visible planets throughout the parade, often appearing close to the moon and occasionally right alongside other planets like Mercury. It was also one of the most easily identifiable bodies when all seven planets were photographed in a line in late February.
Bright Venus is easily spotted with the naked eye, but to make out its crescent-like appearance you’ll need a strong pair of stargazing binoculars or a good backyard telescope.
The planetary parade is now over. However, several planets will remain easier to spot than usual in the coming weeks and months. After the upcoming inferior conjunction, Venus will begin its waxing phase and transition from a slim crescent to its more usual filled-in appearance. As this happens, the rainbow effect should still be visible for a few weeks if the conditions are right.
Venus reaches an inferior conjunction approximately every 18 months. The next time this happens will be on Oct. 24, 2026.
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