Moon Occults Venus

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2020-06-21 · NASA (public domain)

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Moon Occults Venus — APOD for 2020-06-21

It may look like Earthrise , but it's actually Venus-set. Just after sunrise two days ago, both the Moon and Venus also rose . But then the Moon overtook Venus . In the featured image sequence centered on the Moon, Venus is shown increasingly angularly close to the Moon . In the famous Earthrise image taken just over 50 years ago, the Earth was captured rising over the edge of the Moon, as seen from the Apollo 8 crew orbiting the Moon. This similar Venus-set image was taken from Earth, of course, specifically Estonia . Venus shows only a thin crescent because last week it passed nearly in front of the Sun , as seen from Earth. The Moon shows only a thin crescent because it will soon be passing directly in front of the Sun , as seen from Earth. Today, in fact, two days after this image was taken, the Moon will create a solar eclipse , with a thin swath across the Earth treated to an annular solar eclipse . Gallery: Notable images of the Venus - Mooon conjunction of 2020 June submitted to APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2020-06-21 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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