Fun fact, since the moon and Venus are in the same general spot in the sky from our perspective and are both illuminated by the sun, they share the same phase. Venus is a crescent too!
Unfortunately that's not correct. Venus is near greatest western elongation and is about half full. The geometry is different because it's not between us and the sun.
Noooo, my precious factoid! If only I had looked it up. I forgot that it does depend on the position of its orbit, it's on the wrong side of its orbit to be a crescent. Thanks for the reality check.
I took my 4yr old and 1.5yr old out to look at them, as they're beautifully framed by our front porch. Hoping to give them the same love for astronomy I have. The 4yr old saw the moon through my 12x5 binoculars and loved the eyes (craters) on the moon
Also, if you keep looking "up" from Venus, the little reddish dot is Saturn. Then follow that straight line towards the other horizon, and the other very bright one is Jupiter.
Meanwhile on the Norway/Finland border the Earth’s magnetic field put on a hell of a show — too tired to get the photos off my camera tonight but will post one tomorrow.
Got to see this tonight and pointed it out to my kids! I was expecting a “Wow, daddy that is so cool!” But instead my 3 year old asked “is the moon a cactus?” And when I said no, my 5 year old said “yeah I think the moon is a cactus.”
Being a parent is all about picking your battles. Arguing with my kids about whether or not the moon is a cactus was not a battle I chose to fight tonight.
I had noticed the pairing last night and realized that it would be even closer tonight, but I got caught up in political bleating, and so I forgot to check until you said something.
Tonight is about as clear as it gets in western Washington during winter! Thanks for the heads up! [Clouds exacerbated by my poor phone camera make the moon look much fuller than it should.]
aaaaaaaaand it's cloudy here. Damn it. I'm going outside, in the cold, to shakr my fist at the clouds. (as guy with a telescope at home, I'm getting pretty good at it that).
I love how the "distance" between the Moon and Venus differs considerably between the various photos - illustrating orbital mechanics and how the night sky moves.
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A great sight.
I had noticed the pairing last night and realized that it would be even closer tonight, but I got caught up in political bleating, and so I forgot to check until you said something.
(It was nice to be chosen over google i guess)