Crescent Venus and Moon (APOD)

[pokerfan]

Nice! :bounce:


Credit & Copyright: Iván Éder

Explanation: There's something behind these clouds. Those faint graceful arcs, upon inspection, are actually far, far in the distance. They are the Earth's Moon and the planet Venus. Both the Moon and Venus are bright enough to be seen during the day, and both are quite capable of showing a crescent phase. To see Venus, which appears quite small, in a crescent phase requires binoculars or a telescope. In the above dramatic daytime image taken from Budapest, Hungary in 2004, the Moon and Venus shared a similar crescent phase a few minutes before the Moon eclipsed the larger but more distant world. Similarly, visible today in parts of Africa and Asia, a crescent Moon will again eclipse Venus during the day. About an hour after the above image was taken, Venus reappeared.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100516.html

[gemini_liberal]

1. That's gorgeous

All evening last night, I was mesmorised by the waxing crescent of the moon and Venus sitting together as it got darker. Perfect view and everything. Love it.

[WhiteTara]

2. beauty!

Thanks. I didn't see the moon last night. It was very dark and stormy weather.

[jotsy]

3. Too spiffy!

[supernova]

4. Surreal!

I think that is my new wallpaper.

Thanks!

[Codeine]

5. What an amazing image.

That's just fantastic. :hi:

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Wonderful picture!

[Decoy of Fenris]

7. Now THAT is cool. n/t

[Odin2005]

8. That is a very cool picture!

I've seen Venus in broad daylight several times, it's pretty easy if you know where it is and the sky is very clear.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Wow. It really shows the relative scale

When you consider that the full moon is NEVER bigger than an aspirin tablet held at arm's length, you can see how small Venus really is.

And yet, it's perfectly visible in the dusk sky.