Sometimes the appetizer is better than the main course.

When it comes to Venus, June 8 is the main course. For the first time in 122 years (1882) it will transit (move across) the Sun. Professional and amateur astronomers alike will be out in the thousands to watch the second planet drop in front of our solar system's central star. (More on this in a future astronomy blog).

But for anyone else looking up into the starry night this coming weekend, Venus's spectacular brightness will prove to be visually more tasty than the transit on June 8. Under clear skies, it will be a sight to behold.

Check out the West-Southwest skies May 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Venus will be at its brightest (and closest to Earth Saturday evening). It will shine at a magnitude of –4.51.(Remember, for astronomers, negative numbers represent brighter objects and only the Sun and moon are brighter when Venus is this close to earth.)

In fact, it is so bright that, if it is a cloudless day with deep blue skies, keen observing will pick it out in the middle of the day. At noon on Saturday or Sunday look almost due east. Your gaze should be half-way down from the the Sun (which will be more Southeast. Make sure NOT to look directly at the sun).

There’s Venus.

Venus’s orbit about the Sun takes 225 days, with its distance from the Sun being almost three-quarters of the Earth's. Its disk will be 25 percent illuminated with sunlight reflecting off its clouds. That’s what makes it glow so brightly in the starry night. In just the past month it increased in visible size nearly 40 percent.

If you're fortunate enough to be out in the country and the night is cloudless, find a dark stand of trees. Turn your back towards Venus and look for your shadow. Silhouette cast by planet-light: Now that is an astronomical hors d'oeuvre! (by Jim Bencivenga)