What's that bright 'star' in the early morning sky? It's not a star at all!

Early risers may have noticed a strikingly bright object in the east-southeast sky just before sunrise. This isn't a star, but rather the planet Venus, which has recently emerged from the evening sky and is now making a dramatic appearance in the morning. In fact, Venus passed between the Earth and sun on Oct. 24, marking its transition from evening to morning visibility.

As a result, Venus is now rising more than 90 minutes before sunrise, and will continue to rise three minutes earlier each day. By Dec. 17, it will rise 3 hours and 50 minutes before sunrise, illuminating the sky for more than two hours before morning twilight. Venus will reach its peak brilliance on Nov. 29, shining at a magnitude of -4.9, which is 12 times brighter than Jupiter and 25 times more dazzling than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

If you are living in a rural area with minimal light pollution, you may even be able to see Venus casting a visible shadow and spotting it as a tiny white speck against the daytime sky. Venus will continue to shine brilliantly until mid-December, after which it will start a gradual decline towards the sun, rising later each morning until it disappears into the dawn by July.