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What planet is known as both the morning and the evening star?
Question
#4976. Asked by cj. (Aug 08 00 5:18 PM)
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zbeckabee

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Both Mercury and Venus are both evening and morning stars. That is because they are nearer to the sun than the earth is, so they can never appear very far from the sun in the sky. In other words, when the sun sets in the evening they might be in the west, near the sun as an evening star. Or they could be in the morning sky before sunrise, again, near the sun. But neither Mercury nor Venus can be opposite the sun in the sky, such as rising at sunset. Hence, they are called the evening and morning stars. Actually, "evening star" or "morning star" nearly always refers to Venus, which is by far the brightest celestial object in the sky after the sun and moon. Mercury is much dimmer and only visible for a few weeks of the year.
http://www.johnpratt.com/items/astronomy/eve_morn.html
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