Qatar Calendar House Says Venus To Reach Perihelion Wednesday Evening

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Calendar House announced that Venus, the brightest planet in our solar system, will reach its closest point to the sun (perihelion) on Wednesday evening, Sha'ban 20, 1446 AH, corresponding to Feb. 19, 2025.

Venus will be approximately 107 million kilometers from the sun, about 2 million kilometers closer than it was on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, when it was 109 million kilometers from the sun, its farthest point from the sun.

Dr. Bashir Marzouk, an astronomer at the Qatar Calendar House, stated that residents of the Arab region and Qatar will be able to observe Venus at its closest point to the sun with the naked eye above the western horizon after sunset. In Qatar, residents can observe Venus in the evening sky from after sunset at 17:31 until its setting at 20:16 local Doha time.

Dr. Marzouk pointed out that Venus reaches its closest point to the sun (perihelion) approximately every 225 days. The last perihelion occurred on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, and the next perihelion will occur on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.

Venus and Uranus rotate around their axes in the opposite direction to all other planets in our solar system; both Venus and Uranus rotate from east to west, while other planets rotate from west to east. Venus is the second closest planet to the sun, with an average distance of 108 million kilometers.

It is the brightest planet in our solar system and the third brightest celestial object after the sun and the moon.

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