Evening star

02/18/12, 6 pm, near Boswell's Tavern, Virginia, looking west

When planet Venus appears in the west at sunset, it is often called the Evening Star. Here is Venus shining through cloud layers at dusk. These diaphanous clouds are the same ones that will bring snow later that night and the following morning.


The ice crystals in the cloud layers form a halo around the planet. I was near Boswell's Tavern and Zion Crossroads looking for Northern Harriers, a graceful and acrobatic flyer low over grasslands. These hawks were sighted in this field and reported by other birders. They did not disappoint.


The beautiful planets in the west were a bonus.