Crescent Moon and Venus - 5 (2012)

On the evening of 2012 May 22 (MST), the crescent Moon (illuminated by earthshine) and the planet Venus made an attractive conjunction just after sunset. The pair appeared over Limestone Mountain from Portal, AZ. The observatory dome in the foreground is owned and operated by Roy Furman.

Just to the upper right of Venus is Elnath (Beta Tauri) the second brightest star in Taurus and one of the 50 Brightest Star in the sky.

For more images of interesting planetary alignments, see Conjunctions Gallery. An almanac of other major sky happenings for each year can be found at Calendar of Astronomical Events.

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