Venus won't appear this bright in the morning sky again until December of the year 2010. Look eastward before dawn to see this dazzling world fairly close to the horizon. Another bright object, fainter and higher up in the predawn sky, is the planet Jupiter. If you have a dark sky, and if your landscape is covered by snow or white sand, you might see Venus cast a shadow. Venus rises just as dawn begins to brighten the sky as seen from mid-northern latitudes, so you’re not likely to see Venus' shadow from there. But this brightest of planets rises well before dawn in the southern hemisphere. So you might see a shadow cast by Venus around now from the southern part of Earth's globe. Each day since March 27th, when Venus passed from our evening sky to our morning sky, this planet has been closer to Earth than it will be tomorrow morning. But it's only now that the crescent of Venus appears wide enough from our earthly perspective for Venus to shine at its brightest.