Venus is approaching Earth as it orbits the sun and soon will switch to a morning star (on Oct. 26 it will pass the sun). But, as it does this, it becomes a thin crescent. It is at its brightest and largest at this time. If you have a telescope it is great to observe, and many of us have binoculars. Even with binoculars, Venus can be seen as an obvious crescent. It has phases like the moon, but it takes about a year and a half for it to go through them. Look west after sunset; Venus is the bright object low in the sky.