Of course, Venus isn't a star, it's a planet: it shines by reflecting sunlight. However, its dense , white atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid make it very reflective (ie: give it a high albedo) It is also the nearest planet to Earth in absolute terms: around 25 million miles. At the moment, these factors combine to give Venus a magnitude of -5.0, by far the brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and Moon.
This morning Venus was so bright I could photograph it through my office window, even with the lights on! I dashed up onto the Heath to find a clear eastern horizon, in the hope of catching Mars and Mercury, both of which rise just before dawn: no luck, though...
One strange happening: two (three?) glowing 'tubes' suddenly appeared in the west: I managed a single shot before they disappeared. They seem very similar to the object videoed from one of the Shuttles by Story Musgrave
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