Explanation:
On December 1, bright planets Venus and Jupiter gathered near the
young crescent Moon, an inspiring
celestial scene
in early evening skies
around
the world.
But from
some locations
the Moon actually passed in front of Venus,
interrupting the tight grouping with a lunar occultation.
Captured from Wildon, Austria,
this twilight view shows the
silvery evening star about five minutes before it
slipped behind
the dark lunar limb and vanished from sight for more than hour.
The image is a combination of long and short exposures showing
details of the lunar surface illuminated by both faint
earthshine
and bright sunlight.
In the inset, recorded later in darkened
skies over Breil-sur-Roya in
southeastern France, a dazzling Venus has reappeared below the
bright lunar crescent.
Of course, Jupiter, at the upper right about 2 degrees from
Venus and Moon, is
sporting moons of its own seen as
tiny pinpricks of light on either side of the bright planet.
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