Moon and Venus Dazzle Worldwide in Close Approach as 7%-Lit Crescent Glows With Earthshine
Updated
Updated · Space.com · May 20
Moon and Venus Dazzle Worldwide in Close Approach as 7%-Lit Crescent Glows With Earthshine
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · May 20
A razor-thin crescent moon and Venus drew skywatchers worldwide earlier this week, with photographers capturing the pairing over China, New York, Italy, Sweden and Washington.
May 19 and May 18 images showed the young moon just days after the May 16 new moon, its darkened disk softly lit by earthshine while Venus shone beside it in twilight.
7%-lit lunar crescent slipped below Manhattan's western horizon after appearing near One World Trade Center, while another photo caught an aircraft crossing the scene.
Italy images added Jupiter to the view, with photographer Giuseppe Pappa calculating an isosceles triangle: 10° at the Venus and Jupiter base points and 160° at the moon.
The close approach turned a routine evening conjunction into a global astrophotography event, highlighting lunar surface detail and Venus's bright prominence in the late-spring sky.
What photographic secrets are used to capture faint celestial events above brightly lit modern cities?
Could climate change on Earth alter the brightness of the 'earthshine' we see on the Moon?
Beyond the science, why have planetary alignments captivated human imagination throughout history?