There was something behind the clouds. Upon close inspection, it was the Moon, which was hard to see yesterday around noon above the small village of Cessy, France. But soon, it was not only the Moon. As expected, a bright dot suddenly appeared from behind the Moon -- the planet Venus far in the distance. Captured in the single featured exposure, both appeared to show a crescent phase. The Moon's crescent was quite slight -- with only about 10 percent of its face illuminated by the Sun. In contrast, Venus's crescent was more full -- showing about 25 percent illumination. Venus appeared brighter because it is nearer the Sun and because its clouds are more reflective than the dark lunar surface. An occultation of Venus by the Moon is visible to only about 10 percent of the Earth, but in yesterday's event even most of that was experiencing daytime.
Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat
25 years ago today, astronaut Frank Culbertson watched the 9/11 attacks unfold from the International Space Station 💔
He was the only American not on Earth
Drifloon Gijinka (98)
"Carried here on the evening breeze, I’m a balloon woven from wandering souls. Won't you take my hand?"
(You can get the unlocked and uncensored version on my Patreon.)