Spot Venus Near Monday's Crescent Moon — SkimNews
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- Venus makes a close encounter with a young crescent moon on Monday, separated by about one moon's width at their closest approach around lunchtime.
- The moon is just over three days old with roughly 14% of its visible surface illuminated when it pairs with Venus.
- For UK observers, the closest approach occurs during daylight, so the pairing is best viewed in the south-western sky after sunset, though the sun will still be above the horizon at 6:30pm from London.
- The guidance warns against using visual aids or looking directly at the sun, advising watchers to locate the slender crescent first and use it as a guide to Venus nearby.
- Southern hemisphere viewers also see the moon and Venus together, but they appear higher in the evening sky after sunset, offering a different vantage than UK observers.
Why it matters: The conjunction gives casual stargazers a rare, naked-eye target during a narrow evening window in the south-western sky. For UK observers specifically, daylight timing of closest approach means success depends on catching the pair shortly after sunset before they sink toward the horizon.
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