Venus looks like the moon?
Excellent observation and a great question! The inner planets (Mercury and Venus) have phases (just like our moon). In fact you can never see them as full. if you think about this just for a second you’ll readily see why. It’s because we’re looking at them from behind and sides and never the front so there will always be a portion that is is dark. The outer planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are always full since we always see from face on. They do not have phases that we can see. If you were on Pluto looking back at the solar system with a telescope, they all of the planets would exhibit phases just like you saw with Venus. It’s great to see that you’re getting out with the scope and questioning what you see. Keep it up!
