Evening star is any planet that can be seen after sunset. The planets Venus and Mercury are most often seen as evening stars. Because these two planets move in orbits closer to the sun than the earth’s orbit, they appear to move from one side of the sun to the other. The two planets can be seen only in the western sky after sunset or in the eastern sky before sunrise. When either of the planets is seen at sunrise, it is called a morning star.
Planets are not really stars, but solid bodies in our own solar system. They do not give off their own light as stars do. They shine by reflecting sunlight. Ancient people thought planets were wandering stars. By Roman times, they recognized that the morning stars and evening stars were the same. But it was not until 1543 that the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus identified their positions in the solar system.
