Astro Mark's Astro Alert: Love's Radiation, February 14th, Valentine's Day Evening

Love Shines Bright:

Tomorrow night, Valentine’s Day, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, prosperity, desire, and victory beautifully glows overwhelmingly brilliant in the western sky at dusk. Distinguishable, without question. How wonderful is the moment when love is in the air? Exciting. Full. Radiant.

This Valentine’s Day our second most inner planet Venus, reaches a magnitude of -4.9. Whoa, that’s quite bright; and the brightest it will be till September, 2026. For comparison, if you draw an imaginary line arcing up across the sky dome from Venus heading east, near the point almost directly overhead lies Jupiter. It is bright at a magnitude of -2.42. Continue arcing east and there, distinctly red is a bright object, the planet Mars at a magnitude of -0.72. What’s all this mean? The larger the negative number, the brighter the object. Love, outshines them all.

Why View Venus on Valentine’s Day?

For astronomical reasons, you want to view Venus because the planet dims in magnitude and drops in altitude from this point forward. This means there’s less time in the night to view Venus. Also it will now move past its crescent stage. When Venus is in the crescent, that is the best viewing. That’s science though; how humdrum. But, for romantic, spiritual, and a moment to connect with humanity reasons, well, those are different. 

A Cosmic Love Story in the Sky:

Venus, the eternal symbol of love and beauty is like love, rare and fleeting. When you look up to Venus tomorrow evening with your beloved, embrace their eyes and in doing so, become part of the legacy of all those in the present and past, across cultures and races, who lived this same moment. And when you do, you and yours become a passage in the eternal cosmic love story.  

Indeed, step outside, look up, feel the love. Venus will.

Clear skies and Happy Valentine’s Day to you!