The crescent moon and Venus shine over the Toronto skyline in this stunning night sky image. Astrophotographer Mike Killian took the image on Dec. 2 from Toronto.
“My girlfriend's place in Toronto has a great balcony view facing the city skyline to the west, so I knew if we had clear skies we would have a gorgeous view of the crescent moon and Venus over the city, setting together in the twilight following sunset,” Killian wrote in an email to Space.com. [The 100 Greatest Night Sky Photos of 2016]
The moon is a sphere that travels once around the Earth every 29.5 days. As it does so, it is illuminated from varying angles by the sun. A crescent moon is part way between a half moon and a new moon, or between a new moon and a half moon.
Killian wasn’t expecting to get the image.
“Clear skies we had (mostly), so I couldn't resist capturing a few DSLR shots, especially considering the cloudy horizon I was looking at and a cloudy weekend expected," he added.
You can see more amazing night sky photos by our readers in our astrophotography archive here.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share with us and our news partners for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
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