The clouds better hold their ground.
On Friday, Venus and a young crescent moon trade places in the twilight. It’s a rare sort of pretty for the naked eye. If you catch it.
The geometry is specific. Look west. From London, 10 pm BST works best on paper, mostly because the sun has dipped below but the summer sky refuses to go fully dark yet. That brightness helps. Or hurts. Depending on how patient you’re feeling.
Venus will be that bright white anchor near the horizon. Stubborn. Bright. The moon sits right there with it, barely three days out from new, showing just under 16% light. Thin. Fragile looking.
Buildings get in the way. Trees too. Hills are just rude like that. You have to hurry because the show sets quickly. Follow them as long as the geometry allows.
Here’s the weird part.
As the night actually sets in, the dark side of that moon might wink back. Not with sunlight. But with earthlight. The ghostly glow of our own planet reflecting onto it. It’s faint but real.
Earth reflects its own light back onto the moon.
If you’re south of the equator? Same rules apply. Just look west the second the sun vanishes. No reason to miss it.
