Conjunction of the Waxing Crescent Moon and the planet Venus

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This past Saturday I captured some photographs of the Waxing Crescent Moon and Venus in the sky above Syracuse, New York. The two objects were too far apart, in my opinion, to get both objects in the same photograph and still see some detail in the Moon's surface. However, the following evening, Sunday, November 7, 2021, Venus had moved closer to the Moon, and I was able to capture a photograph of both of them together that I liked.

The Waxing Crescent Moon and the planet Venus in the night sky
The Waxing Crescent Moon and the planet Venus in the night sky, above Syracuse, NY.

Venus is currently on a path that will bring it nearer to Earth, until early January 2022. On Sunday evening when I took this photograph, Venus was about 89.5 million kilometers/55.6 million miles from Earth, about 1.1 million kilometers/700,000 miles closer than on Saturday evening. Venus' closest distance to Earth in January 2022, will be about 39.77 million kilometers/24.7 million miles.

The Moon was in its Waxing Crescent Phase, which occurs after a New Moon. At the time this photograph was taken the Moon's illumination was approximately 13.5%. The illumination of the Moon grows from 0.1% to 49.9% during this phase.

Photograph taken on November 7, 2021, at Syracuse, New York.



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