This image of the planet Venus was taken on July 6, 2012 at 12:59 pm, at the National Air and Space Museum's Public Observatory in Washington, DC. Compared to the image taken on June 27, Venus looks like a fatter crescent because it is waxing.  As it gets further ahead of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, we see more and more of the daylit side of the Venus.

This crescent is also not as tall as the crescent on June 27, because Venus is further away.  Venus will continue to wax and recede until it is on the far side of the Sun, when it will be full.  It will be difficult to observe then, because it will be close to the Sun in the sky and will have a small apparent size.

Telescope: finderscope attached to the main telescope.

Camera: Lumenera SKYnyx2-0C with 2x Barlow

Created:

July 06, 2012

Photographer:

Geneviève de Messières and Emily Berkson

ID#:

WEB12577-2012

Source:

Smithsonian Public Observatory Project

Copyright:

Smithsonian Institution

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