Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon Feb 22-26

Here's a look at the local evening sky over the next few days, as the waxing crescent moon emerges from the sunset glow and passes Venus and then Jupiter. At just about 24 hours "old" tonight, the moon will be the thinnest of crescents less than 10 degrees above the horizon. Good conditions are a must for seeing the moon this soon after new. The crescent will grow and become easy to see over the next few days as the moon orbits the earth and proceeds through its usual phase cycle. It will be near Venus on the 25th and near Jupiter on the 26th. The moon's track is shown in the images below (moon size exaggerated for clarity). The images were created with Stellarium and combined with the GIMP.


Venus and Jupiter themselves will be only three degrees apart in early March. Hear more about that at our Sky this Month Show for March, 3/1 at 4:00 PM and 3/2 at 12 Noon.

Feb 22-24, 6:00 PM.

Feb 24-26, 7:00 PM.