Venus

It is only about 6:30PM but you wouldn't know from the dark sky and the lights in the streets of Miami. We have shorter days after September like everybody else. This is US-1 going South at the Falls (SW 136th street.) Only when it's dark that you can see the nice neon lighting at the top of the tower that is the Falls shopping center's landmark. During this time of year, Miami's sky is mostly clear at nights and the starry sky is usually spectacular, especially if you are somewhat interested in astronomy. Last month's sky night was dominated by Jupiter but now Venus is taking over. The bright spot you see above the tower is the planet Venus representing the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky and it is known as the Morning Star or Evening Star. In December, Evening Star it is, and it is a beautiful sight in Miami many nights.

You can safely ignore the reddish glow on top of this photo. That is not any building because Miami does not have many buildings that tall. What you see is the reflection of the dashboard of my car. If you can read that, it says 18:26 which is the time this photo was taken.

Goddess of love... fancy that!