Tonight, February 27, 2009, a 10% crescent moon will appear to flyby Venus in the early night sky, making for a beautiful show before 9 p.m.
This apparent proximity is not a rare occurrence, but tonight's flyby is occurring under a few special circumstances. For one, Venus is at it brightest measuring a magnitude -4.6. This is twenty times brighter thanSirius, the brightest star in the sky.
Secondly, both the moon and Venus will be in crescent form. The moon is at 10% visibility while Venus is at 20% visibility. It may seem odd that Venus is brighter now while it is in crescent versus when it is full, but Venus is closer to earth now than when it is full, thus it appears larger to us and reflects more light.
The sun sets at 6:29 p.m.tonight and the moon sets at 9:11 p.m. so be sure to get out early and look to the sky. In fact, both the moon and Venus are so bright, you should be able to find them in the afternoon sky. The best show occurs this evening before 9 p.m. and with clear skies forecasted for tonight, only surface objects and city lights will hamper your view. |
