• The moon still shines in the vicinity of the planet Venus after sunset this Wednesday evening, May 23, 2012, as shown on our chart above. But the moon and Venus were paired most closely for the month on May 22. The moon and Venus - the first-brightest and second-brightest orbs of nighttime, respectively - pop out low in the west almost immediately after sunset tonight as seen from around the globe.
• As people watched from around the world last night, the moon moved higher in the sky, going from below Venus as seen from the Middle East and

Europe to side by side with it as seen from the U.S. West Coast. Tonight's moon will be above Venus. Why this difference? Because the moon is moving in its orbit around Earth. No matter where you are on Earth, be sure to catch these shining beauties shortly after the sun goes down tonight.
• The moon and Venus will follow the sun below the horizon by nightfall or early evening tonight. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Venus sets about 100 minutes after the sun tonight and 40 minutes after sundown by the month's end. For middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus sets about an hour after the sun tonight and tapers down to less than one-half hour after sunset by the month's end.
• As you might guess from those diminishing setting times, Venus is about to disappear in the sun's glare.
• Because Venus lies inside of the Earth's orbit, this world exhibits the full range of phases - much like our moon. In fact, the rest of May 2012 presents an especially good time to observe the phases of Venus through the telescope. Like the moon, Venus shows a slender crescent phase tonight. You might even be able to tell with your binoculars that Venus is something other than perfectly round.

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