Stargazers within the U.S. will witness the razor-thin waning crescent moon rise near Venus and the intense star Regulus within the predawn sky on Sept. 19, whereas others will see the lunar disk go straight in entrance of the rocky planet, briefly occulting (or hiding) its mild.
Head out two hours earlier than daybreak on Sept. 19 to seek out the slender type of the 2%-lit moon rising low on the japanese horizon with Venus seen as a brilliant morning star lower than 1 diploma beneath and Regulus — the brightest star within the constellation Leo — simply past. Remember, the width of your little finger held at arms size equates to roughly 1 diploma within the night time sky.
Around this time, you might discover a refined glow illuminating the shadowed area of the lunar floor, revealing the huge basaltic plains referred to as lunar maria, which shaped billions of years in the past from historical lava flows. This phenomenon — known as Earthshine, or the Da Vinci glow — can solely be witnessed on nights surrounding a new moon phase, when the lunar disk is well positioned to bathe in sunlight reflected from Earth‘s surface.
Jupiter can be found shining high above the eastern horizon to the upper right of the moon in the late night hours of Sept. 19, embedded in the constellation Gemini with the bright stars Castor and Pollux twinkling to its left.
Stargazers in the U.S. will see the lunar disk drift closer to Venus and Regulus as dawn approaches. Those viewing from Europe, Canada and Greenland, along with parts of Russia, Asia and Africa will witness the moon pass straight in front of Venus, temporarily hiding it from view. The event — known as an occultation — will begin globally at 6:34 a.m. ET (1034 GMT) on Sept. 19 and will end at 10:26 a.m. ET (1426 GMT) the same day, according to in-the-sky.
Stargazers hoping to get a more in-depth take a look at the constellations or planets of the photo voltaic system ought to learn our roundups of the greatest binoculars and telescopes for viewing the night time sky.
Editor’s Note: If you seize a picture of the moon with Venus with Space.com’s readers, then please ship your photograph(s), feedback, and your identify and site to spacephotos@area.com.