Christmas Eve 2011

This is the sky as seen from Madrid (latitude 40N) at 18:45 local time on December 24^th 2011.

Venus is again in Capricornus, although this time unaccompanied by other bright planets.

In 2011 it is magnitude –4.0 and 13 degrees high in the south-west. If we observe it with a telescope we will see that its small disk is gibbous, with 85% illuminated, so that it will appear almost full.