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Moon and Venus still highlight the evening sky April 25
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• Once again, if you'll look west after sunset, you'll find the moon and Venus near each other - dazzlingly bright. The planet Venus is the third-brightest heavenly body to light up the sky, after the sun and moon. And Venus is nearly at its brightest now for this evening apparition. Check them out tonight!
• Because Venus orbits the sun inside of Earth's orbit, we see this world going through the whole range of phases - much like our moon. Both the moon and Venus are evening crescents right now, though you need a telescope to see the
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Courtesy U.S. Naval Observatory
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crescent Venus. Try looking at evening dusk before the glare of Venus becomes too overpowering. Tonight, Venus is a bit more than 30% illuminated by sunlight.
• Unlike the evening crescent moon, which is waxing toward full phase, the evening crescent Venus is waning toward new. That's because Venus revolves around the sun while the moon revolves around the Earth.
• Venus completes its cycle of phases - from new Venus to new Venus - in a mean period (Continued on page 9)
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Moon and Venus on April 24, 2012 as seen from France, from EarthSky Facebook friend VegaStar Carpentier.
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