If you are out and about before dawn, you might observe a bright object in the southeastern sky. The planet Venus has been making its appearance as our morning star. Venus shines brightly enough to be mistaken as a star, a plane or even a UFO.

On Saturday, Venus will appear near a sliver of the moon in the morning sky. Venus has been dimming since its brightest appearances over the summer, and by early 2021 it will slip behind the sun. Its next appearance will be as our evening star.

We’ve long observed Venus’ reflective cloud blanket as a bright beacon. Its thick cloud cover is the second most reflective surface in the solar system after Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus.

The mysterious white landscape of Enceladus was first photographed by the Voyager spacecraft in the 1980s. In 2005, NASA’s Cassini Mission discovered eruptions of icy water particles and gas spewing to great heights from the moon’s surface. Fine ice dust particles sparkle like snow. Enceladus has a bright reflective topography of craters, house-sized boulders and a smooth south polar region that appears resurfaced by geological events.

Enceladus is more reflective than Venus but also more distant from Earth. Nearby Venus is the third brightest object in our sky after the sun and moon.

First Published: December 8, 2020, 12:00 p.m.