Did anyone have a chance to view the extremely close pairing of Venus and the crescent Moon yesterday (Thursday) morning? It was quite spectacular, especially with the earthshine lighting up the dark side of the Moon.

It also gave me an opportunity to "cheat" and use the nearby Moon to find Venus in broad daylight (when well-placed like it is right now, the planet is visible during the day, but can be hard to find in the bright blue sky without some kind of landmark pointing the way to it).

I went out about 10 minutes before sunrise (which is at 7:03 local time here now) and easily spotted the Moon near Venus. The Belt of Venus (that pinkish band near the horizon opposite the sunrise point) was prominently visible in the west (night owl that I am, I'm far more likely to see the evening version than this morning one). Before long the rising sun lit the highest branches of nearby trees, making the few remaining leaves shine golden. This was also quite pretty. Venus remained easily visible to the unaided eye.

I also went out a couple hours later and found the Moon quite easily, but needed binoculars to see Venus.

Ryadian's father also joined me for both of these daylight Venus observations.

Posted by: @stargazer

Did anyone have a chance to view the extremely close pairing of Venus and the crescent Moon yesterday (Thursday) morning? It was quite spectacular, especially with the earthshine lighting up the dark side of the Moon.

I did see that very early in the morning, including the earthshine! It's a rare treat for me to see anything spectacular in the night sky... too much light pollution where I live, plus it's so often cloudy. 12 years in the northern hemisphere and I still can't recognise any northern constellations on sight except Orion — and only because I already know him from the southern hemisphere, as he's visible from Australia for part of the year. (And all right, the only other constellation I can recognise at all is the Southern Cross, but never mind. )

Edited to add: Very similar effect this morning (Saturday), except Venus is further away and the Moon is an even thinner waning crescent, what I call a fingernail Moon. Still seems a bit odd to have it waxing and waning from right to left, instead of from left to right like it does where I grew up... 

Posted by: @stargazer

I had the pleasure of stepping outside yesterday morning shortly after 7 am to see Arcturus for the first time in this apparition. I always enjoy spotting a familiar favorite for the first time each season.

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Did anyone have a chance to view the extremely close pairing of Venus and the crescent Moon yesterday (Thursday) morning? It was quite spectacular, especially with the earthshine lighting up the dark side of the Moon.

Wonderful! I agree that spotting an 'old friend' of the night sky for the first time each season is always such a treat.

Each morning I am keeping an eye on Arcturus, as it rises higher, and yesterday morning saw a star I had been on the lookout for ... Spica! (From the Big Dipper, arc to Arcturus; speed on to Spica, as the saying goes.)

I loved reading about your finding Venus at the sun rose, and after! I have fun on my a.m. walks spotting Venus for as long as I can. This morning, a half hour before sunrise, the night sky objects that were still viewable were: Arcturus (albeit dim), Venus, Sirius, Procyon, the two top stars of Gemini, Betelgeuse and Rigel (top left, bottom right) in Orion, and, very, very faintly, Orion's belt, and Capella (high in the west).

As you and @Courtenay have mentioned, earthshine has been spectacular lately, as the thinner and thinner Moon rises later in the morning. We have called that type of Moon a 'fingernail Moon' too, Courtenay. Or a sliver. Or a paring. So beautiful!

When I walk (usually from 5:45 - 6:45 am), it has been between 0 and -5C, so, for me, the perfect temperature for brisk-walking for an hour+ ... except when I stop to take in that wonderful night sky.  

EDIT: I meant to mention that when Venus and the crescent, then slivered Moon drew further apart, the image that came to my mind was of a giant pendulum in the sky with Venus being the pivot point above, the Moon (along with its earthshine) being the huge pendulum, as it swung to the left. Such a magnificent sight!

Posted by: @courtenay

Still seems a bit odd to have [the Moon] waxing and waning from right to left, instead of from left to right like it does where I grew up... 

That's another sight I'd like to see should I get a chance to travel Down Under. I've only seen it wax and wane right to left. 😉

Remember the movie Babe?  (Baa ram ewe...).  There is a scene-setting shot showing the house with twilight and a half-moon above (it's a very pretty shot), then it cuts to an internal shot of the evening meal. My first reaction was, "How can it be evening? The Moon clearly shows it's very early morning.  Oh, that's right, it's set Down Under.")

The weather here of late has been incredibly warm. Sunday night, it was still 54F/12C 90 minutes after sunset (for reference, the average high during the day right now is 43F/6C). So I pulled up a chair and enjoyed some time under the stars. 

Sometimes I'll call friends while doing this, just to catch up.  That night, I called my brother in Seattle (conveniently 2 hours behind me).  Just as he answered, I saw a Starlink satellite parade rise up from the west, so he was treated to me going "Ooh, ahh," a few times, as it was totally unexpected.

The satellites were about magnitude 2 (still easily visible in city lights), spaced about 4 degrees apart, and rising to the southeast, fading out before they reached Altair, then about 45 degrees high in the southwest.  The spacing decreased to about 2 degrees apart before the show ended. I estimate there were about 35 satellites seen.

Posted by: @stargazer

Remember the movie Babe?  (Baa ram ewe...).  There is a scene-setting shot showing the house with twilight and a half-moon above (it's a very pretty shot), then it cuts to an internal shot of the evening meal. My first reaction was, "How can it be evening? The Moon clearly shows it's very early morning.  Oh, that's right, it's set Down Under.")

Remember it?? We Aussies were just about delirious with excitement that this fantastic film that became a worldwide hit, with the then extremely innovative use of CGI to make the animals' mouths look like they were REALLY talking, was OUR country's own production!!! I was in my first year of high school when it came out and I was delighted to find that the film was worth the hype. Mind you, although it was filmed in New South Wales, I've always felt it looks and sounds like it's meant to be set in England, probably because the original book (by Dick King-Smith) is. In any case, I would never have noticed anything unusual about that night sky, having never been north of the equator back then!

I honestly reckon the Moon looks much better the right — er, the southern — way up. Seriously, from Australia's side of this planet, the Moon really does look almost like it has a face on it, with only a little imagination. I could easily see that as a child, and always assumed that's how stories of the Man in the Moon came about. In fact, I had an extensive correspondence with the Man in the Moon (known as "Moony" for short) when I was really little; my letters left out for him on the window sill would disappear overnight and be replaced with responses from him, much to my excitement. Of course I twigged somewhere along the line that it was my dad and/or my older sister doing the actual writing of these, but I didn't mind!  

Here, for those who haven't seen this for themselves, are side-by-side photos of the Moon as seen from each hemisphere. And if you can't already see what I instinctively can in the second photo, here's a blog by a fellow Aussie who does.  

(And another interpretation of it by yet another Aussie. My own perception of "the face" is sort of somewhere between these two!)

So this raises a big question. Since the Man in the Moon can easily be seen by us southerners, but is not at all apparent when viewed from the northern half of this planet (to my crashing disappointment when I first looked at the night sky after moving to England)... how did all the legends of the said Man come about? I'm now looking at Wikipedia's page on the subject, but still cannot see anything remotely resembling either a face or a human figure in the northern view of the moon, and yet virtually all the legends cited seem to come from the northern hemisphere. I'm baffled as to how you guys ever managed to notice him when he's the wrong way up over here!!

(And to compound the oddness, that iconic shot from the pioneering 1902 sci-fi film La Voyage dans la Lune (included on the Wikipedia page), with the spacecraft hitting the Man in the eye, has him looking quite recognisably like he does from the southern hemisphere, and yet it is of course a French film. But it merely adds to my conviction of what the "right way up" for our natural satellite is. )

Posted by: @stargazer

Just as he answered, I saw a Starlink satellite parade rise up from the west, so he was treated to me going "Ooh, ahh," a few times, as it was totally unexpected.

Haha, that is cool timing!  

Posted by: @courtenay

In fact, I had an extensive correspondence with the Man in the Moon (known as "Moony" for short) when I was really little; my letters left out for him on the window sill would disappear overnight and be replaced with responses from him, much to my excitement. Of course I twigged somewhere along the line that it was my dad and/or my older sister doing the actual writing of these, but I didn't mind!

What fun!  

I saw a strange sight on my walk this morning. 'Twas a perfectly clear night sky; everything was where it should be   but as I was walking east, a bright light high in the sky caught my eye. It was headed east at quite a speed, but even as I looked, it seemed to split into two, with the front stronger light moving a bit ahead of the second dimmer light, after which they disappeared into the east. The whole thing took only two or three seconds. I only wish I had been walking west or north, so could possibly have seen more.

I did spot two Leonid meteors yesterday morning (one longer and dimmer; the other shorter and very bright), so I am wondering if this morning's unexpected viewing was a meteor. But were there two side by side, then, one being slower, they separated, or was it one meteor, splitting in two? I have never seen anything like it before. It did not emanate from Leo (very high in the south sky at 6:15 am), but appeared to have come from the western sky.

Whatever it was, it was verrrry cool to see!

Fun stuff, @Courtenay, and great questions regarding the man in the Moon.  I admit I am at something of a loss to explain its Northern Hemisphere origins if it looks much more like a man in the Southern. I've been more likely to see the rabbit in the Moon (also depicted on that wiki page) than a man.

That is an amazing sight, @Jo, and I wonder what it was. A meteor might be the best guess, and maybe we can keep an eye on the AMS meteor reports to see if it shows up (it is not on there at this time).