Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2020 May 29

                        Mercury Meets Crescent Venus
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Meniero

   Explanation: That's not a bright star and crescent Moon caught between
   branches of a eucalyptus tree. It's Venus in a crescent phase and
   Mercury. Near the western horizon after sunset, the two inner planets
   closely shared this telescopic field of view on May 22, seen from a
   balcony in Civitavecchia, Italy. Venus, the very bright celestial
   beacon, is wandering lower into the evening twilight. It grows larger
   in apparent size and shows a thinner crescent as it heads toward its
   inferior conjunction, positioned between Earth and Sun on June 3.
   Mercury, in a fuller phase, is climbing in the western sky though,
   reaching its maximum angular distance from the Sun on June 4 Still,
   this remarkably close pairing with brilliant Venus made Mercury,
   usually lost in bright twilight skies, easier to spot from planet
   Earth.

    Gallery: Notable Venus & Mercury Conjunction 2020 Images submitted to
                                    APOD
                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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