See Venus and the Moon Shine Together in Post-Christmas Gift (Earthshine, Too!)

On Saturday evening (Dec. 28), a lovely crescent moon will join Venus in the twilight sky, making for an eye-catching post-Christmas celestial ornament.

See Venus and the Moon Shine Together in Post-Christmas Gift (Earthshine, Too!) : Read more

Lately I have been able to view Venus with my telescope shortly after sunset. I know some others on this forum are viewing too. Here is a quick note from my observations of yesterday evening. "Observed 1645-1715 EST. Sunset 1651 EST. I could see Venus unaided eyes in SW near 1654 EST. Cirrus and altocumulus clouds caused problems tonight and more altocumulus clouds came in near 1710 EST so by 1715 EST, I came in. Good views of gibbous shape Venus at 100x using Orion Sirius 25-mm plossl with TeleVue 2.5x barlow lens. No filters used because of cloud coverage over the area while viewing. Muzzloader for deer is in today and also waterfowl like duck and geese. I could hear some shots in the distance...while viewing Venus in my east pasture near the horse fence." Yes, I was decked out in *hunter's orange*.
 
I was able to enjoy the somewhat close conjunction of Venus and the thin, waxing crescent Moon on the 28th. Skies were mostly clear for my area and I viewed from 1645-1730 EST and then a bit later shortly after 1800 EST. I observed using unaided eyes, 10x50 binocular view I could fit Venus and thin Moon into the same FOV, and used the telescope too. I hope others enjoyed the view shortly after sunset with bright Venus and bright, thin waxing crescent Moon.
 

Latest posts