Venus and a crescent moon meet this week

Come February 27, if we are lucky enough to have a clear sky, you will be able to watch the Evening Star, Venus, meet the elegantly curved, crescent moon, ultimately making these two the brightest objects in the sky that night. In the early evenings of February 27 and 28, look for the duo in the southwestern part of the hemisphere, shortly after sunset.

Following the sun, the moon and Venus rank as the second and third brightest celestial objects in our sky, which is why Venus is normally referred to as the Evening Star. The planet is also referred to as the Morning star, when the orbital position changes causing the planet to appear more brightly in the morning versus evening.

Right now, Venus is going through a period called greatest elongation. This is when the planet is furthest away from the sun; which is why she is shining so brightly for us to see. The Evening Star will continue to shine this bright until June. The crescent moon we are seeing this week is the result of the “new” moon from February 23. As the moon moves away from its “new” position, the illumination from the sun allows us to see the side of the moon – a “waxing” crescent moon.

As Venus and the moon make their orbit around the sun, they essentially “catch up” to one another on the plane of our solar system. On Thursday, February 27, the moon will be roughly 249,892 miles away from the Earth, with Venus being around 84 million miles away. Essentially, this is why we get to see this brilliant display in the sky.

If you miss this week’s meeting of the moon and Venus, don’t worry, come March 28, the two will meet up again, putting on a very similar show.