Skywatchers worldwide enjoyed a dramatic post-sunset conjunction of the crescent moon and Venus this week, featuring earthshine, photographic alignments with landmark structures, and upcoming occultations.
Global Astrophotography Captures Venus and the Crescent Moon
The crescent moon and Venus put on a spectacular show for skywatchers worldwide during a dramatic close approach in the evening sky. Photographers captured the razor-thin lunar crescent just a few days after the new moon phase on May 16, as sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and atmosphere bathed the shadowed expanse of the moon’s disk in a soft glow, known as earthshine. Venus, meanwhile, appeared as a dazzling star-like object that accompanied the moon through the late spring sky, setting the stage for a gorgeous photoshoot as the duo lit the night above cityscapes and historic landmarks.
In China, Meng Zhongde spied Venus and the moon shining in the twilight sky over the Hainan Province on May 19. Across the globe in New York City, photographer Gary Hershorn captured a dazzling photo of Venus shining to the left of the crescent moon above the One World Trade Center on May 18. Hershorn also snapped a well-timed shot of a passenger aircraft speeding through the skies above Manhattan alongside the celestial duo that same night, before the 7%-lit crescent moon slipped from view below the western horizon.
Mathematical Alignments and Architectural Framing in Europe
In Catania, Italy, Giuseppe Pappa photographed the moon, Venus, and the gas giant Jupiter on May 19 before calculating the exact geometric relationships between them.
“The three celestial bodies aligned perfectly in the evening sky, forming a geometric isosceles triangle,” Pappa told Space.com in an email. “Jupiter (top left) and Venus (bottom right) sit at the base of the triangle with an identical angle of 10°. The Moon rests at the vertex(V), in the center of the scene, creating a wide 160° angle.”
Giuseppe Pappa, Astrophotographer
Meanwhile, in Rome, Paolo Palma caught Venus peeking through the columns in the dome of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul during the conjunction. Palma noted that when the sky was almost completely dark, he noticed a small slit in the dome’s lantern that seemed relatively aligned with the path the planet would take. After a few attempts, he managed to capture the planet through the opening even though it remained visible for only a few seconds, adding that every evening, the night sky reveals itself as a book full of surprises
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Understanding the Waning Crescent Moon and Earthshine Mechanics
The celestial rhythm governing these pairings involves predictable lunar phases. The waning crescent Moon is visible in the early morning sky from September 7 through September 10, 2026, as the Moon approaches the end of its monthly cycle. The Moon gradually becomes thinner after passing the Third Quarter phase on September 4, losing its illuminated portion until reaching the New Moon phase late Thursday, September 10, at 11:27 p.m. EDT in the United States.
During this phase, the visible illuminated portion shrinks from about 50 percent toward zero. The term “waning” refers to decreasing illumination, while “crescent” describes the thin, curved shape. The boundary separating the Moon’s illuminated and dark portions is called the terminator. A thin waning crescent also reveals earthshine—sometimes called the Da Vinci glow—where sunlight reflected from Earth illuminates the darker portion of the lunar disk.
Regional Viewing Conditions and Upcoming September Conjunctions
Stargazers face varying local conditions for upcoming events. According to the FOX Forecast Center, those in the western half of the country will have a harder time viewing a conjunction due to lots of clouds blocking their views, while those in the eastern United States enjoy nearly nonexistent cloud coverage. The moon will appear very close to Venus in the night sky on Sept. 14 in a conjunction, occurring just after twilight when Venus reaches peak brightness and can sometimes be mistaken for a plane.
Additionally, the moon will pass in front of Venus on Monday in an occurrence called an occult. Very few, if any, people will be able to see the occult happening over Europe, Asia, and Africa because it occurs during daylight hours. For those wanting to see Venus after the conjunction on Monday night, the planet will still be shining the brightest of the whole year for this week, according to EarthSky.org.
