Venus is a crescent now, too


If you could see Venus through a telescope now, you’d find it in a crescent phase. That’s because Venus will pass between the Earth and sun – what astronomers call “inferior conjunction” – on March 25, 2017. Thus its lighted half, or day side, is facing mostly away from us now. Shahrin Ahmad in Malaysia caught Venus as a crescent – 17.6%. 26 days to inferior conjunction – on February 28, 2017.

Patrick Prokop in Savannah, Georgia created this composite image of Venus as a crescent on February 24, 2017.

Here is a collection of Venus images from December 2016 to February 2017 showing how the size and phase of Venus has changed as it has moved closer to passing between the Earth and sun on March 25. After the March 25 inferior conjunction, Venus will emerge into the morning sky once again. Image by our friend Tom Wildoner at LeisurelyScientist.com.

Bottom line: Photos beginning in late 2016 and extending through March 2017, showing Venus telescopically, as it wanes to a thin crescent phase.



from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lufDz7

If you could see Venus through a telescope now, you’d find it in a crescent phase. That’s because Venus will pass between the Earth and sun – what astronomers call “inferior conjunction” – on March 25, 2017. Thus its lighted half, or day side, is facing mostly away from us now. Shahrin Ahmad in Malaysia caught Venus as a crescent – 17.6%. 26 days to inferior conjunction – on February 28, 2017.

Patrick Prokop in Savannah, Georgia created this composite image of Venus as a crescent on February 24, 2017.

Here is a collection of Venus images from December 2016 to February 2017 showing how the size and phase of Venus has changed as it has moved closer to passing between the Earth and sun on March 25. After the March 25 inferior conjunction, Venus will emerge into the morning sky once again. Image by our friend Tom Wildoner at LeisurelyScientist.com.

Bottom line: Photos beginning in late 2016 and extending through March 2017, showing Venus telescopically, as it wanes to a thin crescent phase.



from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lufDz7

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