CHAPTER III
Venus
Venus was naturally—owing to its brightness—the first of the planets known to the ancients. It is mentioned by Hesiod, Homer, Virgil, Martial, and Pliny; and Isaiah’s remark about “Lucifer, son of the morning” (Isaiah xiv. 12) probably refers to Venus as a “morning star.” An observation of Venus is found on the Nineveh tablets of date B.C. 684. It was observed in daylight by Halley in July, 1716.
In very ancient times Venus, when a morning star, was called Phosphorus or Lucifer, and when an evening star Hesperus; but, according to Sir G. C. Lewis, the identity of the two objects was known so far back as 540 B.C.
When Venus is at its greatest brilliancy, and appears as a morning star about Christmas time (which occurred in 1887, and again in 1889), it has been mistaken by the public for a return of the “Star of Bethlehem.”[29] But whatever “the star of the Magi” was it certainly was not Venus. It, seems, indeed absurd to suppose that “the wise men” of the East should have mistaken a familiar object like Venus for a strange apparition. There seems to be nothing whatever in the Bible to lead us to expect that the star of Bethlehem will reappear.
Mr. J. H. Stockwell has suggested that the “Star of Bethlehem” may perhaps be explained by a conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter which occurred on May 8, B.C. 6, which was two years before the death of Herod. From this it would follow that the Crucifixion took place on April 3, A.D. 33. But it seems very doubtful that the phenomenon recorded in the Bible refers to any conjunction of planets.
Chacornac found the intrinsic brightness of Venus to be ten times greater than the most luminous parts of the moon.[30] But this estimate is probably too high.
When at its brightest, the planet is visible in broad daylight to good eyesight, if its exact position in the sky is known. In the clear air of Cambridge (U.S.A.) it is said to be possible to see it in this way in all parts of its orbit, except when the planet is within 10° of the sun.[31] Mr. A. Cameron, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, has, however, seen Venus with the naked eye three days before conjunction when the planet was only 6¼° from the sun.[32] This seems a remarkable observation, and shows that the observer’s eyesight must have been very keen. In a private letter dated October 22, 1888, the late Rev. S. J. Johnson informed the present writer that he saw Venus with the naked eye only four days before conjunction with the sun in February, 1878, and February, 1886.
The crescent shape of Venus is said to have been seen with the naked eye by Theodore Parker in America when he was only 12 years old. Other observers have stated the same thing; but the possibility of such an observation has been much disputed in recent years.