Topline<\/p>\n
Skywatchers are advised to look to the west shortly after sunset on Friday, July 17, and at the same time each evening this weekend, as a delicate crescent moon shines close to a bright Venus. Earth\u2019s sister planet, which is currently getting closer to Earth, will remain a major evening object all through summer. The classic sky sight comes as the Perseid meteor shower<\/a> begins \u2014 one of 2026<\/a>\u2019s celestial highlights<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Friday, July 17, 2026, a 17%-lit waxing crescent moon will shine just to the left of Venus in the west after dark.<\/p>\n Jamie CarterTimeline<\/p>\n Friday, July 17A 17%-lit waxing crescent moon will shine just to the left of Venus in the west after dark. \u201cEarthshine\u201d \u2014 sunlight reflected onto the moon\u2019s dark side by Earth \u2014 should be visible. This date also sees the beginning of the Perseid meteor shower<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saturday, July 18A 25%-lit waxing crescent moon will shine farther to the left of Venus in the west after dark. It\u2019s another great night to look for \u201cEarthshine\u201d on the moon.<\/p>\n Sunday, July 19A 34%-lit waxing crescent moon will shine even farther to the left of Venus in the west after dark.<\/p>\n When And Where To Look<\/p>\n The sight of a crescent moon and Venus will be on display low in the west, as seen from mid-north latitudes, from about 45 minutes after sunset for about an hour. Use a sunrise-sunset calculator<\/a> to get the exact time of sunset where you are. You don\u2019t need binoculars or a telescope \u2014 just your naked eyes.<\/p>\n Understanding VENUS in 2026<\/p>\n As Jupiter moves toward a solar conjunction in late July \u2014 when it disappears into the glare of the sun, as seen from Earth \u2014 Venus becomes the undisputed “Evening Star” for much of the rest of 2026. The planet will reach its greatest elongation \u2014 its farthest apparent distance from the sun as seen from Earth \u2014 on Aug. 15, 2026. It will then reach its greatest brilliancy in the evening sky on Sept. 18, when it will outshine everything except the moon. That will be despite it being by then a razor-thin crescent. As an inner planet relative to Earth, Venus orbits closer to the sun, so it has phases \u2014 like the moon \u2014 and rarely appears to stray far from the horizon. After peaking in brightness as it gets closest to Earth, Venus will gradually sink back toward the sun\u2019s glare in October, eventually transitioning into a brilliant \u201cMorning Star\u201d before sunrise early in 2027.<\/p>\n This set of images show the phases and relative size of Venus as seen from Earth as it moves around the Sun. Photograph by Jamie Cooper. (Photo by SSPL\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n SSPL via Getty ImagesThe Perseid Meteor Shower 2026<\/p>\n The Perseids<\/a> are active from July 17 through August 24, but the shower reaches its peak on the night of August 12-13. The meteors are created by tiny fragments left behind by Comet 109P\/Swift-Tuttle, which burn up in Earth\u2019s atmosphere at around 37 miles per second (59 km\/s), according to the American Meteor Society<\/a>. For the best places to see it, find a location that looks dark on a light pollution map or find a Dark Sky Place<\/a> (U.S.\/global), a Dark Sky Preserve<\/a> (Canada), a Starlight Destination<\/a> (global) or a Dark Sky Discovery Site<\/a> (U.K.). The Perseids will peak just hours after a total solar eclipse<\/a> visible from Greenland, Iceland and Spain, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible across Western Europe and much of North America \u2014 including parts of the U.S. and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n The times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information, consult online planetariums like Stellarium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Further readingForbesThe Perseid Meteor Shower Begins Today: When To WatchBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesPerseid Meteor Shower Returns This Week Under An \u2018Earthshine\u2019 MoonBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesWhy Americans Cannot Ignore August\u2019s Total Solar EclipseBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline Skywatchers are advised to look to the west shortly after sunset on Friday, July 17, and at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[270],"tags":[242402,18,251367,19,17,2663,10626,30988,134,97411,251368,133,451,16906,2664],"class_list":["post-593200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-crescent-moon-and-venus","tag-eire","tag-evening-star","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jupiter","tag-moon","tag-moon-phase","tag-perseid-meteor-shower","tag-perseids","tag-pklanets","tag-science","tag-space","tag-stargazing","tag-venus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116945651475969289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}