Tonight (Jan. 28), you can catch the crescent moon make a close approach to Venus in the evening sky.
The waxing moon was in conjunction with Venus — meaning that the pair shared the same celestial longitude — at 2:29 a.m. EST (0729 GMT). Though the pair were below the horizon for skywatchers in the U.S. at the time, they will still appear close together after sunset.
In New York City, for example, Venus will set at 8:25 p.m. local time, or 3 hours and 17 minutes after sunset, according to timeanddate.com. The moon sets just a few minutes later, at 8:51 p.m. local time.
Related: The brightest visible planets in January's night sky
The four-day-old moon, which reached new phase on Friday (Jan. 24), will pass just over 4 degrees to the south of Venus, according to the skywatching site In-The-Sky.org. Look for the pair as the dusk fades, when they will be about 30 degrees above the southwest horizon in the constellation Aquarius. (For reference, your clenched fist held at arm's length measures about 10 degrees wide.)
Venus will be shining at magnitude -4.1, or brighter than even the brightest stars in Earth's night sky. The "evening star" will be at its greatest brightness in April, when it will be at magnitude -4.5.
Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing night sky picture and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
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Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
