Doha: The Qatar Calendar House announced that Venus, the brightest planet in our solar system, will reach its closest point to the sun (perihelion) on Friday, Dhul-Qi'dah 28, 1447 AH, corresponding to May 15, 2026. Venus will be approximately 107 million kilometers from the sun, compared with roughly 109 million kilometers at its farthest point on Jan. 22, 2026.

According to Qatar News Agency, Dr. Bashir Marzouk, an astronomer at the Qatar Calendar House, stated that residents of Qatar will be able to observe Venus at its closest point to the sun with the naked eye above the western horizon after sunset, and before the planet sets in Qatar's sky at 8:36pm local Doha time.

Venus reaches its closest point to the sun approximately every 225 days. The last perihelion occurred on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, and the next perihelion will occur on Friday, Dec. 25, 2026.

The planet follows an elliptical orbit around the sun, reaching a farthest point known as aphelion and a closest point known as perihelion. Venus is the second closest planet to the sun, with an average distance of 108 million kilometers.

Notably, Venus, along with Uranus, rotates around its axis in the opposite direction to most other planets in our solar system, moving from east to west.