Venus & the New Moon

Updated January 24, 2020

This was the photo I took from a friend's balcony in Tiburon, California on the last day of 2016. I don't know why the moon never comes out right in the photos I take, but it was a two or three-day old crescent moon, and the planet Venus -- sometimes the Evening Star, sometimes the Morning Star -- was up to its left. Outside the frame of the photo, a little above Venus, is Mars. Soon the two of them will have a close encounter of a very planetary kind!

If you're interested in what goes on above you at night, you might want to check out Sky and Telescope's "Sky at a Glance" blog. THIS WEEK'S covers January 6-14.

If you're interested in what the dance in the night sky has to do with your personal life, you might want to check out Chani Nicholas's Horoscope Blog. THIS WEEK'S starts on January 24.