Venus in Crescent Phase - November 29, 2013

This photograph of Venus was taken at 3:15 pm on November 29, 2013 using the 4-inch refracting finderscope at the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory.

The planet Venus has phases, just like the Moon, because it can pass between the Earth and the Sun. On the day this photograph was taken, Venus was to the left of the Sun in the sky and so only part of its right side was illuminated, giving it a crescent shape.

Venus had reached its half-full phase one month earlier, on October 31, 2013, when it was as far from the Sun in the sky as it can get. Now Venus is moving closer to the Sun in the sky, and getting closer to Earth, as its orbit takes it between us and the Sun. 

Venus will appear to grow larger in our telescopes as it gets closer to the Earth. However, because the Sun will be more behind Venus, we will see less of its day-lit side and so the crescent shape will get thinner. Venus will be at its closest to Earth when it passes between us and the Sun on January 11, 2014.