Venus at dichotomy by Hugh Allen

You can't miss Venus beaming down as daylight fades. In just a few days time, on Friday 27th March, it reaches dichotomy when it shows a perfect half phase. It is now almost at its greatest elongation from the Sun and won't set until near 11pm. Venus is so bright that a great moment to observe it is whilst there is still some daylight in the sky. It looks like a tiny featureless Moon. Here's a quick iPhone photo I took yesterday in fading daylight through the eyepiece of my telescope:

And Venus is still getting brighter. It is swinging towards the Earth but declining in phase to a crescent. These competing effects reach tipping point at the end of April when Venus peaks in brightness at an amazing magnitude -4.5! Make sure you catch Venus over the next few weeks, it's a beautiful sight.