See the moon and Venus dance together in Wednesday evening's sky
The moon and Venus will practically meet in the night sky on Wednesday.
As far as celestial objects in the night sky go, the moon is by far the brightest, with Venus coming in a distant second. On Wednesday (Feb. 22), you'll be able to spot the two making a close approach.
That approach, technically called an appulse, will be visible Wednesday from New York between 7:52 a.m. EST (1252 GMT) and 7:59 p.m. EST (0059 GMT on Feb. 23), according to skywatching site In-the-Sky.org. Of course, the majority of that period is during daylight hours, which will make observing the appulse a little tricky. But since the sun sets at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 GMT) in New York City, that gives you a few hours in the evening for solid viewing.
At the same time as the appulse, the moon and Venus will also reach conjunction, which happens when they share the same right ascension (basically, a celestial body's "east-west" position in the sky).
Related: Night sky, February 2023: What you can see tonight
Looking for a telescope to see the night sky during new moons? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide.
The moon will be just two days old — an extremely thin crescent moon — but it will still appear at magnitude minus 9.7 in terms of brightness. Venus, on the other hand, will be at magnitude minus 4.0. Venus is so bright thanks to its thick, cloud-filled atmosphere that reflects much of the sunlight that reaches it. (On the magnitude scale used by astronomers, lower numbers indicate brighter objects.)
Jupiter is the next brightest celestial body in the night sky, and on Wednesday, it will be at magnitude minus 2.12. The planet will also be near the moon — in fact, the moon will be sandwiched between Jupiter and Venus. (On March 1, the two planets will make their closest approach.)
If you want to get an up-close look at the moon and Venus during their conjunction and appulse — plus a view of nearby Jupiter — our guide to the best binoculars is a great place to start. And though you won't be able to see both the moon and Venus within the field of view of a telescope, you can still get excellent views of each individually — take a peek at our guide to the best telescopes.
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And if you're looking to photograph the celestial event, gear up with our guides to the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography, then check out our guide on how to photograph the moon,
Editor's Note: If you snap the conjunction of the moon and Venus and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
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Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy. With a background in travel and design journalism, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, she specializes in the budding space tourism industry and Earth-based astrotourism. In her free time, you can find her watching rocket launches or looking up at the stars, wondering what is out there. Learn more about her work at www.stefaniewaldek.com.
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karlp295 I've got clear skies and I must say this is a wonderful sight! I wish the clouds will part for you too so you can witness this for yourself.Reply -
rod Well, I did observe the waxing crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Venus in Pisces tonight.Reply
Observed 1730-1830 EST. Sunset 1753 EST. Lovely evening at sunset with waxing crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Venus in Pisces. I viewed naked eye and with 90-mm refractor telescope at 71x using TeleVue 14-mm Delos. There were thermal currents in the atmosphere so some distortion when viewing, earthshine visible on the Moon - more apparent by 1815 EST. Quite a breathtaking sight the bright waxing crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Venus in Pisces. At Jupiter 4 Galilean moons visible (Ganymede, Europa on one side, Io and Callisto the other side), cloud bands and shading visible at the poles. Venus bright gibbous shape apparent too (about 87% illuminated). Jupiter and Venus 01-March-2023 will be about 0.5-degrees apart. The sunset tonight was a lovely sky with this trio in WSW-W. Virtual Moon Atlas shows Moon's angular size 32.12 arcminutes, Stellarium 1.2 shows Jupiter 34.46 arcseconds, and Venus 11.95 arcseconds or about 12 arcsecond angular size. Jupiter and Venus about 6-degrees 15 arcminutes apart, the Moon and Jupiter about 13 degrees 35 arcminutes apart in Pisces (Stellarium 1.2).