Why is the planet Venus never seen high overhead in the midnight sky from an Earth-bound observation point?
Answer
It orbits inside Earth's orbit
Venus orbits the Sun on an orbital path that is closer to the Sun than Earth's orbit. Due to this interior orbital position, Venus is always confined to viewing angles close to the Sun in the sky, as seen from Earth. Consequently, Venus can only be visible shortly before sunrise in the east (Morning Star) or shortly after sunset in the west (Evening Star). It never gets far enough away from the Sun's glare to appear high above the horizon during the middle of the night.
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