This happens once every 584 days.
Venus will be undergoing a transformation, of sorts, come January. The planet will appear to sink, swell, and disappear from the sky, a phenomenon that occurs once every 584 days.
This is an inferior conjunction, a period of time where Venus will move between the sun and the Earth, according to NASA. It's been predicted by the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado that Venus will be in a direct line between the earth and the sun by January 8.
Up until January 8, the planet will sink and pass Perigee at the same time—a moment when Venus is closest to the Earth. Because of its closeness, Venus will appear larger and give us all the opportunity to view it.
On December 28, you'll be able to see Venus and Mercury at their lowest on the west-southwestern horizon. Venus, the second brightest planet behind the moon, will be the easiest to spot, says NASA. NASA recommends that people take a look about 30 minutes before sunset for good viewing!
"There’s an eight-day period where it is lost in the brightness of the sun as it goes from being in the evening sky to being in the morning sky," John Keller, director of the Fiske Planetarium told the Denver Post. "If you see Venus in the evening on the third of January, on the morning of the 12th or 13th of January you might just catch it on the other side of the sky in the morning. And by the end of January, it will be high and brilliant in the morning sky.” NASA predicts that Venus will reemerge after its hiatus with the sun on or after Jan 11., and be visible in the morning sky."
Also, Venus will have a superior conjunction in the future. This is when the planet will appear the smallest and be at its furthest side of orbit from Earth, the opposite of an inferior conjunction. Venus' last superior conjunction happened on March 26, 2021; the next one will happen on October 22, 2022, according to Earth Sky Organization.
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