Crescent Moon meets Venus

Venus, that now appears as Earth’s brilliant morning star, rose predawn in this stunning time series, in a close pairing with an old crescent Moon on Monday, December 7.    Image credit Philip A Cruden

But also widely seen from locations in North and Central America, the lunar crescent actually occulted or passed in front of Venus during Monday’s daylight hours.

This time series follows the daytime approach of Moon and morning star in clear blue skies from Phoenix, Arizona. The progression of nine sharp telescopic snapshots, made between 9:30am and 9:35am local time, runs from lower left to upper right, when Venus winked out behind the bright lunar limb.

source APOD