The moon and Venus will shine close together on May 18. This photograph shows the pair shining bright at dawn on June 26, 2022.
(Image credit: Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images via Getty Images)
By now, you have almost certainly noticed dazzling Venus glowing in the western sky soon after sunset. Tonight (May 18), the brilliant planet will be joined by a slender crescent moon just 2.1 days past the new moon and only 7% illuminated.Whenever these two objects pair off, they always attract attention even when they are not particularly close together.Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, and tonight, you will find our natural satellite situated about 3 degrees — or about one-third of a fist — to the right of Venus.Ever wonder which is brighter, Venus or the crescent moon?Many will probably say Venus because it appears as a small, sharp point of light, but it is the moon that is the brighter of the two. Currently, Venus shines at an eye-popping magnitude of -4.0, but the crescent moon, thin as it is, is magnitude -7.1 or 17 times brighter! It might be difficult to accept this, but the reason is that the moon's light is spread out over a much larger area compared to Venus, thus making it appear dimmer.
