The upper chart shows the path of Venus across the background stars over the course of the year. Stars to magnitude +4.5 are shown with some fainter objects included to complete constellation patterns. The white circles represent the planet on the first day of the month and are scaled according to apparent magnitude. The faint paths before the first circle and after the last circle represent the planet's positions in December of last year and January of next. In general, the planet moves from right to left except when it's in retrograde and proceding in the opposite direction. As an inferior planet, Venus never strays far from the Sun so it always begins and ends the year near the constellation of Sagittarius, located about one quarter of the way in from the left side of the chart.
The lower charts show how the appearance of Venus changes over the year. Below each image is listed the date, the apparent magnitude, the apparent diameter of the disk (in arc-seconds), the geocentric distance (in au), the elongation from the Sun (in degrees) and the percentage of the disk which is illuminated. Like the Moon, Venus exhibits a complete range of phases, from new to crescent to gibbous to full and back again. Unlike the Moon, however, Venus takes over a year to complete this phase cycle. Note how Venus is at its brightest during its crescent phase, when it is relatively close to the Earth.
Venus begins the year as the morning star but it is already descending toward the eastern horizon. It has close encounters with both Jupiter and Saturn in early February but vanishes from view in early to mid-March. Superior conjunction occurs later that month and then Venus returns to the west after sunset where it remains as the evening star for the rest of the year. This is a disappointing apparition for observers in northern temperate latitudes but Venus puts on an excellent show for the southern hemisphere, rising high above the western horizon. Venus comes to within 0.4° of Mercury in late May and is found only 0.1° away from the open star cluster Praesepe in early July. Mars and the evening star are only half a degree apart shortly thereafter. Finally, a lunar occultation takes place on 8 November.
- Apparitions of the Inferior Planets from Latitude 50° North
- Apparitions of the Inferior Planets from Latitude 10° North
- Apparitions of the Inferior Planets from Latitude 30° South
| 01 January | elongation 20.4°, illuminated fraction 94.1%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 10.8 arc-seconds |
| 05 January | Ophiuchus → Sagittarius |
| 11 January | 1.5° north of the Moon |
| 16 January | descending node |
| 01 February | elongation 13.1°, illuminated fraction 97.6%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 10.2 arc-seconds |
| Sagittarius → Capricornus | |
| 06 February | planetary conjunction: 0.4° south of Saturn |
| 11 February | planetary conjunction: 0.4° south of Jupiter |
| 13 February | planetary conjunction: 4.6° south of Mercury |
| 20 February | aphelion |
| 23 February | Capricornus → Aquarius |
| 01 March | elongation 6.5°, illuminated fraction 99.4%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 9.9 arc-seconds |
| 14 March | planetary conjunction: 0.4° south of Neptune |
| 17 March | Aquarius → Pisces |
| 26 March | superior conjunction |
| 27 March | Pisces → Cetus |
| 29 March | Cetus → Pisces |
| 01 April | elongation 1.9°, illuminated fraction 100.0%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 9.8 arc-seconds |
| 12 April | 2.9° north of the Moon |
| 14 April | Pisces → Aries |
| 23 April | planetary conjunction: 0.2° south of Uranus |
| 25 April | planetary conjunction: 1.1° south of Mercury |
| 01 May | elongation 9.2°, illuminated fraction 98.7%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 9.9 arc-seconds |
| 03 May | Aries → Taurus |
| 09 May | ascending node |
| 12 May | lunar occulation: 0.7° north of the Moon |
| 29 May | planetary conjunction: 0.4° north of Mercury |
| 01 June | elongation 17.4°, illuminated fraction 95.3%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 10.4 arc-seconds |
| 02 June | Taurus → Gemini |
| 05 June | maximum declination north |
| 12 June | 1.5° south of the Moon |
| perihelion | |
| 25 June | Gemini → Cancer |
| 01 July | elongation 25.3°, illuminated fraction 89.9%, magnitude −3.9, disk diameter 11.3 arc-seconds |
| 03 July | 0.1° north of the open star cluster M44 (known as Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster) |
| 11 July | Cancer → Leo |
| 13 July | planetary conjunction: 0.5° north of Mars |
| 21 July | 1.0° north of Regulus |
| 01 August | elongation 33.0°, illuminated fraction 82.2%, magnitude −4.0, disk diameter 12.8 arc-seconds |
| 10 August | Leo → Virgo |
| 29 August | descending node |
| 01 September | elongation 39.8°, illuminated fraction 72.9%, magnitude −4.0, disk diameter 15.2 arc-seconds |
| 05 September | 1.4° north of Spica |
| 18 September | Virgo → Libra |
| 01 October | elongation 44.9°, illuminated fraction 62.2%, magnitude −4.2, disk diameter 19.0 arc-seconds |
| 02 October | aphelion |
| 07 October | Libra → Scorpius |
| 09 October | 2.9° south of the Moon |
| 15 October | Scorpius → Ophiuchus |
| 16 October | Ophiuchus → Scorpius |
| 1.4° north of Antares | |
| 21 October | Scorpius → Ophiuchus |
| 28 October | dichotomy |
| 29 October | greatest elongation east: 47.0° |
| 01 November | elongation 47.0°, illuminated fraction 48.1%, magnitude −4.4, disk diameter 25.8 arc-seconds |
| 02 November | Ophiuchus → Sagittarius |
| 07 November | maximum declination south |
| 08 November | lunar occultation: 1.1° south of the Moon |
| 01 December | elongation 41.6°, illuminated fraction 28.6%, magnitude −4.7, disk diameter 39.1 arc-seconds |
| 07 December | 1.9° north of the Moon |
| 12 December | maximum magnitude −4.7 |
| 18 December | stationary point in right ascension: direct → retrograde |
| 20 December | ascending node |
| 29 December | planetary conjunction: 4.2° north of Mercury |
