A waxing crescent moon will be visible in the western sky Saturday evening, accompanied by the planet Venus, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide. Approximately 7% of the moon’s surface will be illuminated.
The thin crescent will appear 45 minutes after sunset, positioned roughly 30 degrees above the western horizon. The unlit portion of the moon will exhibit a faint glow, a phenomenon known as earthshine, caused by sunlight reflecting off Earth’s surface.
Venus is positioned more than 10 degrees below the crescent moon. Further west, Jupiter shines brightly, while Uranus appears near the Pleiades star cluster, according to a post on the SpaceXplore.io Facebook page.
This celestial alignment occurs as the moon enters its second day of a new lunar cycle, gradually increasing in brightness each night until the full moon on April 1, according to NASA. The moon orbits Earth approximately every 29.5 days, cycling through eight distinct phases.
A total lunar eclipse, often called a “blood moon,” occurred on March 3, visible from eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and parts of North and Central and western South America. On March 8, Venus and Saturn were in conjunction, appearing close together in the evening sky. The vernal equinox occurred on March 20, marking the astronomical start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
The U.S. Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program calculates sunrise and sunset times. Observers are encouraged to check local sources for precise times in their area.
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