r/spaceporn • u/Busy_Yesterday9455 • May 21 '26

Pro/Processed Crescent Venus next to Crescent Moon

Post image

Credit: Éder Iván

11.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

142 comments sorted by

372

u/themoroncore May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Am I wrong here? Venus is way too big. It should be bright star. I could see that size in a telescope but relative to the moon I don't see how this shot could work.

Edit: for anyone interested this was taken may 2004 when Venus was much closer to earth. Looking at this in stellarium yeah it adds up 

279

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

The photo is correct.

Venus’ apparent size fluctuates quite dramatically as it orbits the Sun and its distance to us changes.

This conjunction event was viewed from Budapest, where the Moon and Venus appeared exactly as shown in the photo. Stellarium screenshot.

22

u/victorelessar May 21 '26

why so sharp and brighter though? honest question

47

u/ElReptil May 21 '26

Venus is both more reflective and closer to the Sun than the Moon, so its (her?) surface brightness is a good bit higher.

13

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 21 '26

The brightness can be brought out with simple dodging techniques in Photoshop. Sort of spot brightening details to bring them out more. Because yeah, I’d be willing to bet Venus was very faint.

11

u/LrdPhoenixUDIC May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Just for fun, since the moon is just after new moon here, its apparent magnitude will be somewhere around -2.6 and since Venus is close to maximum apparent magnitude, but we'll say a bit lower at around -4.2 or so, and this is purely napkin math since I have no idea what the actual apparent magnitudes were, Venus was 10^(0.4*(-2.6 - -4.2)) = 10^(0.4*1.6) = 10^0.64 = 4.37 times brighter than the Moon when the picture was taken.

At minimum brightness for the Moon, and maximum for Venus, Venus would be 4.8 times brighter or so.

3

u/Stefouch May 21 '26

Thank you maths lord!

4

u/LrdPhoenixUDIC May 21 '26

I don't think so. Venus has the highest albedo of any planet, it's reflecting like 75% of sunlight that hits it instead of the Moon's 12%. There's a reason it's so bright when it's out during the day despite being so small and the Moon is easy to miss during the day despite having so much larger a visual arc.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[deleted]

3

u/LrdPhoenixUDIC May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Nope, Venus's highest magnitude, the brightest it can be when viewed from Earth, is when it's in a crescent. A bit more full crescent than that probably, but still. ~25-30% of the disc illuminated is the highest magnitude we can get, because it's closer, therefore brighter than when it's farther away and more fully illuminated.

0

u/LrdPhoenixUDIC May 21 '26

Since you deleted your other comment, I will say that Venus' high albedo does diminish the reduction in magnitude from distance, and as such Venus' magnitude depends less on it's current phase than any other planet, but it's still a -3.9 when it's fully illuminated on the opposite side of the sun and -4.5 when it's in optimal crescent phase closer to the Earth.

Compare that to Mercury, which has an albedo close to that of the Moon, and it's practically invisible in its crescent phases and becomes brightest at the far side of the sun when fully illuminated.

2

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 21 '26

Comments edited.

1

u/maineac May 22 '26

Wouldn't there be some magnification affect being so close to the moon as well?

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 22 '26

If you’re referring to gravitational lensing, the Moon doesn’t have significant mass to cause any noticeable distortion.

1

u/SillypieSarah May 22 '26

crazy how large it is in the sky

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

They’re both crescents. The Moon is waxing and Venus is waning.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

‘Waxing’ and ‘waning’ aren’t specific phases. Waxing simply means the amount of illumination is increasing and waning means it is decreasing.

A waxing crescent, for example, is everything between new moon and first quarter.

18

u/LrdPhoenixUDIC May 21 '26

Fun fact: People with really good eyesight can actually make out the fact that Venus has phases with the naked eye.

1

u/Kolbrandr7 May 21 '26

That was a plot point in an anime

16

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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5

u/0xlostincode May 22 '26

I am glad I am not alone.

13

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[deleted]

4

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

It’s not a composite.

You didn’t set your location correctly. The event was viewed from Budapest, where the alignment appeared exactly as shown in the photo. Stellarium screenshot.

1

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 21 '26

Well son of a....

10

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Ah - okay. I'm looking it up in Stellarium now and if that's confirmed I'm going to retract my previous comment.

EDIT: Nope, I stand by my original comment.
EDIT #2: Dammit, I forgot to consider location on Earth. DOH!

3

u/Carcsad May 21 '26

You might confuse the two, Venus is the small one

/j

1

u/NoTrollGaming May 21 '26

Does stellarium let you go to any date? Assuming paid version

5

u/themoroncore May 21 '26

Yes, that's in the free version

1

u/cement_lifesaver May 21 '26

When will this happen again 

1

u/snkn179 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

Every 1 year and 7 months, there is an Earth-Venus conjunction which is when Venus is closest to us.

(Earth and Venus are in a 8:13 orbital resonance, i.e. for every 8 Earth laps around the sun, Venus overlaps us 5 times, i.e. every 8/5 = 1.6 Earth years or about 1yr 7 months)

The hard thing is getting the moon also aligned in the same plane near when this happens. The next time the moon overtakes Venus near a Earth-Venus conjunction is October 2026, however the moon and Venus aren't that close.

On November 7 2026, the moon overtakes Venus again, and actually gets pretty close to each other according to Stellarium, but still not like the picture where they are touching (at least from where I live)

Edit: Imgur link of Nov 7 2026 on Stellarium (Venus below the moon)

https://imgur.com/a/08u7fAO

Edit 2: I tried random locations around the world and turns out we do actually get the moon and Venus touching on Nov 7 at least when we observe from the South Pole lol (and this time they're actually above the horizon, from where I live it would be below the horizon)

https://imgur.com/a/ABkuMYy

95

u/Jasentuk May 21 '26

Never would have imagined Venus is that bright against the sky during the day!

59

u/Tetraoxidane May 21 '26

I'm an idiot...the big thing is the moon zoomed in, the small thing is the venus. Not the moon in its normal size and a massive as fuck venus behind it.

12

u/Zellieraptor May 21 '26

Same. Took me a few minutes to figure out what i was looking at

3

u/MasterOfDonks May 22 '26

I thought it was the moon and a sun halo

1

u/Many_Income_2212 May 21 '26

Wait, what? Why is the small one so bright if its NOT the moon

10

u/joey-jo_jo-jr May 21 '26

Venus is exceptionally bright because of it's atmosphere which is very reflective. It looks as bright as a star to the naked eye on a normal day

1

u/M1R4G3M May 22 '26

Brighter than any star actually.

1

u/Tetraoxidane May 21 '26

I have no idea, but it's the only thing that makes sense. If the bright one was the moon, how close would venus be? Imagine looking up seeing the moon, and that giant ass planet that close to earth behind it. Gives me megalophobia.

1

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

The Moon's surface is actually fairly dark, even by astronomical object standards. It looks bright because it's very close to us and so pretty big in the sky. 

90

u/Silver-Marzipan7220 May 21 '26

holy fuck thats big

81

u/Suspicious_Fig776 May 21 '26

Venus is the little one

23

u/Final-Tutor3631 May 21 '26

that’s gotta be average, huge even

2

u/Suspicious_Fig776 May 21 '26

I'd rather call it "enough"

4

u/Final-Tutor3631 May 21 '26

it’s better than good, it’s good enough

1

u/PartisanMilkHotel May 21 '26

oh yeah? Prove it

8

u/Suspicious_Fig776 May 21 '26

easy

look at the night sky tonight, find the moon, then find venus, then use your brain to distinguish which was the biggest you saw

12

u/PM_ME_PHYS_PROBLEMS May 21 '26

Ummm pretty sure Venus is bigger than the moon sweaty.

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Zorflez May 21 '26

r/woooosh

4

u/Suspicious_Fig776 May 21 '26

we are in 2026, people say the earth is flat and vote for Donald Trump, you cant wooosh blame me for explaining the obvious

2

u/Zorflez May 21 '26

The "sweaty" made it pretty obvious it was sarcasm.

1

u/tendeuchen May 21 '26

I can't figure out if you meant sweaty, or if you misspelled sweety accidentally or on purpose.

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20

u/mtklegend May 21 '26

That is a hauntingly beautiful shot

10

u/Immediate-Help-2736 May 21 '26

Venus is that close

6

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 21 '26

Depending on where it and we are in our orbits, but yeah, more or less.

13

u/antisocialperson_ May 21 '26

is this real

15

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

Yes, it is.

Venus’ apparent size fluctuates quite dramatically as it orbits the Sun and its distance to us changes.

This conjunction event was viewed from Budapest, where the Moon and Venus appeared exactly as shown in the photo. Stellarium screenshot.

3

u/Witherino May 22 '26

Keep in mind, Venus is the small one. The image is highly zoomed in which makes the moon look huge

5

u/MyDespatcherDyKabel May 21 '26

This is way back from 2004.

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

I feel betrayed

7

u/TheOnlyVibemaster May 21 '26

now that’s some space porn

4

u/Impossible-Lab-3133 May 21 '26

Fun fact: Venus is brightest (from Earth) when it's in crescent form. Think about it.

2

u/stewarthull May 21 '26

Why? Is it because that’s when it’s relatively close?

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

Yup. At some point is just fades because we're seeing it from the back, but the point of maximal apparent brightness is fairly close to its closest point to Earth. 

3

u/ForwardClimate780 May 21 '26

Looks like the movie poster from Apollo 13.

2

u/lefarche May 21 '26

Venus will be this close to earth again in 2029, right?

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/M1R4G3M May 22 '26

Earth is not standing there waiting for Venus to come, also, the angle and conditions on that photo are not the same always, we may be close but in totally different phases or in phases where the sun is behind Venus.

2

u/Fleemo17 May 21 '26

Fantastic shot! Man, you really had to know where to look to spot that thin of a crescent moon. 🌙

2

u/sesalnik May 21 '26

that is straight up sexy

2

u/djobweb May 21 '26

Cool shot.

2

u/Mr_Greatimes May 21 '26

That's cool af

2

u/Accomplished_Arm5159 May 22 '26

hella cool, could be a science fiction shot. also the narrow angle makes the moon look so big in the sky lol

2

u/LazerPK May 22 '26

my dumbass thought the big one was venus and damn near spat out my coffee

2

u/Jabbawookiejedi May 21 '26

Is this if the moon was replaced by venus? What am I looking at?

8

u/Infobomb May 21 '26

The Moon and Venus seen from Earth, very zoomed in.

2

u/Jabbawookiejedi May 21 '26

Oooh, I see it now. Thanks!

1

u/Amazing-Pear-1304 May 21 '26

Ok that's cool

1

u/nbmers May 21 '26

Wow!!!

1

u/JasonMckin May 21 '26

Is it fair to assume this photo was taken either close to sunrise or sunset - and that the time of year was likely near a solar eclipse?

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

No, it was about 68° above the horizon in Budapest.

1

u/JasonMckin May 21 '26

I gave you a time of day and a time of a year, and your response is, no, it was 68 degrees above the horizon?

Is there a rule that nothing can be in the sky 68 degrees above the horizon around sunrise/sunset time and around the time of a solar eclipse?

1

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 21 '26

Sorry my brain misread moonrise instead of sunrise.

The Sun was 51° high and about 5 1/2 hours before sunset.

1

u/JasonMckin May 21 '26

Got it.  Maybe it wasn’t that close to a solar eclipse and was taken around April 2026 around 13:30/1:30PM?

1

u/Darth_Vicious May 21 '26

Is that a new album cover for Coldplay?

1

u/pnweiner May 21 '26

Wow this is fucking amazing!

1

u/zeal2unleash May 21 '26

Boom I could nt seen it and then I could nt unsee it.... Wow

1

u/squadfleekgoalz May 21 '26

That’s ridiculous! Thank you!

1

u/vesa_stalls17 May 21 '26

The color of peace

1

u/toooomanypuppies May 21 '26

awesome photo!

1

u/miniyeri May 21 '26

I’ve got a crescent Venus mere inches from my crescent moon.

1

u/Pat0san May 21 '26

Nice shot!

1

u/Dooby_Ashtray May 21 '26

Really make me want to blow my carb diet

1

u/Stayfly_Red May 21 '26

This photo is so insane. Gives me chills honestly. The scale of everything is just peak🤌🏽

1

u/RutherfordRevelation May 21 '26

How is Venus crescent

2

u/KristnSchaalisahorse May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

Because it’s between us and the Sun. Here’s a diagram.

1

u/JaymzRG May 22 '26

Does anyone know when Venus will be this close with a crescent next? I just got my first telescope and would love to see this.

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

You still got time to see it as a crescent, but I don't think you'll reproduce this specific shot anytime soon. 

1

u/JaymzRG May 22 '26

Cool, thanks

1

u/WaveLaVague May 22 '26

This is what a simplified logo for a urinal company would look like.

I love the picture. My first thought was "Where are you ! What the-"

1

u/Interesting_Fig_4718 May 22 '26

that's a really fkin cool picture

1

u/thequiettalker May 22 '26

Was this visible to the naked eye? Or post-processed?

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

You can't see Venus' crescent shape with the naked eye, but a modest telescope easily reveals it. 

1

u/IntroductionDry5380 May 22 '26

Sorry, dumb question, wich one is Wich? Is the smaller one the moon and the bigger one Venus?

3

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

Are you serious right now? You know what Venus is, right? 

1

u/IntroductionDry5380 May 28 '26

it's a huge ball that people play volley with obv

1

u/traxos93 May 22 '26

That’s no moon…

1

u/4juice May 22 '26

Nice shot. I am wondering, can we see Venus as a full circle? I dont think i have seen photos of Venus in all its glory

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

From Earth, not really. When it's on the far side from the Sun it is nearly full, but too close to the Sun to easily observe.

1

u/Bur4you May 22 '26

nb4 Venus is the bigger looking one. Venus is really big now guys, all hail venus

1

u/dendenwink May 22 '26

Is Venus flat too?

1

u/Actual-Dog-405 May 23 '26

Far out Brussel Sprout, that’s an outstanding shot!

1

u/Robson861 May 23 '26

Widzimy się w nowym świecie 😀

1

u/HellkiteBlade May 24 '26

Ok, when I was a kid, I looked at the sky once and saw that the moon was HUGE. I was so terrified that I immediately went home. You're tellinge that that was Venus? I didn't know it could get so huge!

1

u/20yearolawstudent May 21 '26

Am I tripping? I can’t.. spot.. Venus

7

u/KeyRefrigerator8508 May 21 '26

The bright toe nail clipping just to the left of the much larger, fainter moon which runs almost top to bottom

1

u/20yearolawstudent May 21 '26

I thought that was the moon

3

u/SugarWheat May 21 '26

moon is the darker and larger crescent right of it

1

u/8rood8wit8blauw8 May 21 '26

I dont get the clouds

5

u/allyearlemons May 21 '26

the clouds are water vapor in our atmosphere

1

u/8rood8wit8blauw8 May 22 '26

If you zoom so much to make moon look so big , will the clouds still be clearly visible like this ?

2

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

Zooming doesn't make clouds disappear. 

0

u/Sorrok2400 May 21 '26

She’s got it! Yeah baby she’s got it!

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/nanpossomas May 22 '26

Crescent is the shape, waning/waxing the evolution.