Venus is the brightest planet in the night sky. It is the second-brightest object visible to the naked eye after the moon and is visible in the hours just before sunrise and after sunset. These hours of visibility are due to the planet's proximity to the sun.
The other planets visible to the naked eye are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Together with Venus, these five planets are called the classical planets. In ideal conditions, the planet Uranus and the asteroid Vesta can rarely be seen unaided, and they are not generally included on lists of objects visible to the naked eye.
