Venus has phases just like our moon

Venus is a bright spot in our sky, but it has a shadow side & phases just like earth's moon does. This happens because they are each inside the earth's orbit. Venus' phases cycle over 584 earth days vs 29.5 earth days for our moon's phases to cycle. Quarter-phase Venus is pictured here on 8/19/2026.

Nikon Z8 (mirrorless camera), 600mm (of 180-600 zoom), f10, 1/1600 sec. (I know this is lesser quality than from a good telescope, but I am a camera person & like to see what I can do with classical photo lenses.)

cropped & 4x'd pixel count.