Crescent Moon and Venus from St. Augustine, Florida

June 23, 2009

Venus-moon-4-21-09

Photographer: Scott Hammonds
Summary Author: Scott Hammonds; Jim Foster

The photo above shows the conjunction of the waning crescent Moon and brilliant Venus as viewed on April 22, 2009 from the beach in St. Augustine, Florida. It was snapped just before sunup, at approximately 5:50 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).  Venus is also in a crescent phase. To awaken to an apricot tinged eastern horizon and the startling proximity of our nearest, planetary neighbor and sole, natural satellite was, indeed, a glorious way to start the day. Note that Mars is low in the sky, below the Moon, but is lost in the  horizon's glow.

Photo Details: Canon 40D camera;  a 24-70 mm f2.8 L setup.