Why is Venus constrained to the dawn or dusk hours unlike planets like Mars or Jupiter?
Answer
Venus's orbit is contained inside Earth's, keeping it close to the Sun.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and orbits much closer to our star than Earth does. Because its orbital path is entirely contained within Earth's orbit, Venus's angular separation from the Sun, as viewed from Earth, is severely constrained. This physical configuration dictates that Venus can never be seen high in the sky at midnight, far removed from the Sun. In contrast, planets whose orbits are external to Earth's path, such as Mars or Jupiter, possess the necessary orbital freedom to be observable high overhead during the middle of the night, independent of the Sun's immediate proximity in the sky.
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