Judging from the time stamp on your post, you are referring to the sun and not Venus, right? Speaking of Venus, I can't recall seeing it this far south in recent memory (meaning the last ten or fifteen years). Can't remember the last time it was near greatest eastern elongation near the winter solstice. If you have sharp-eyed kids in your household, as Venus approaches superior conjunction, see if they can discern the crescent. Don't tell them what to look for, just ask them if they can tell what shape it is. People with exceptional vision can just detect the crescent shape as Venus approaches a minute of arc in apparent diameter. I could until I was about 20 years old.

From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net>

Nice green flash this evening from near SPOC.

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