Carlos Moreno wrote:

Anthony Stokes wrote:

and I easily observed the crescent Venus , supposedly at 00.33%
illumination yet remaining brighter than minus 3 magnitude.

Huh? This can't be right -- at its peak brightness, Venus' brightness
is less than -3 (less brightness, not less numerically).

Am I getting this wrong?

Yup, at peak brightness (around last May 10th ) Venus was mag. -4.2.

Bart