Venus at its Greatest Brilliance

Star Light, Star Bright, How Bright are Thee Tonight?
That's Venus in the Western Evening Sky. It is at its most brilliant magnitude now. Only the sun and the moon outshine it. This is what it looks like in the sky and through a telescope. Notice its shape. As the Earth and Venus's orbits align, the planet exhibits phases like the moon since Venus is an inner planet. Galileo first discovered this in 1610 by looking at it through his new invention, the telescope.

Sony Camera at 24mm and Celestron 11" telescope

Captured in SharpCapr Pro using "Live Stacking". Post-processed in Photoshop