Sky watch: Venus returns to evening sky

It's been quite a while since we've seen Venus glistening in the western sky at dusk; it spent much of the fall and winter months on the opposite side of its orbit, rising and setting before the sun. But now it's back in the evening sky, where most of us can enjoy its beauty.

With the return of its brilliant light to the evening sky will come the abundance of misconceptions about just what it is. Readers of this column won't fall prey to these, but you may encounter them in your interactions with other less-experienced stargazers.

Perhaps the most common misconception of novice sky watchers is that the brilliant light of Venus is an approaching aircraft with its landing light on. I suppose this is an easy mistake to make; even a World War II fighter pilot was fooled and actually fired on the planet. He missed.

Another belief is that it's the International Space Station. Of course, the ISS orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, so it appears to drift gracefully across our sky. Venus doesn't. If you visit the website heavens-above.com, you can predict the appearance of the real ISS in your sky. Perhaps most puzzling to me is the belief that it's the North Star. I guess it doesn't seem to matter that it appears in the west!

Whenever you encounter misconceptions, please take time to explain what people are seeing. Helping others enjoy the wonders of the night sky is a rewarding way of spending your time.

Despite hearing all these misconceptions, I've always enjoyed the company of Venus in the glow of twilight, especially when it's nuzzled up against the delicate crescent moon. Fortunately, this sight is not all that uncommon, occurring once a month or so as the moon orbits our planet.

Its next encounter with the moon will occur on the evening of May 15, when it will lie just above the thin crescent moon.

After the pair sets in the west, and night turns into day, the moon will drift along its monthly orbit around the Earth so that, by the next night, it will appear above Venus. Its crescent will be slightly thicker, but we will still see its ghostly full disk - the result of Earthlight reflecting back onto its dark surface.