No matter how many times you may have seen it, the crescent moon and the planet Venus make a beautiful pairing. This week, as twilight closes around the landscape, the duo will appear in the south-south-west. The chart shows the view looking from London at 16.30GMT on 5 December 2024.
Venus will be an unmistakably bright beacon in the gathering night, and the moon will be a slender crescent. The new moon was just over four days ago and will have approximately 20% of its visible surface illuminated.
For those with a particularly good view of the southern horizon, looking the evening before could be particularly rewarding, as well. The moon will be lower, about halfway between Venus and the horizon, but it will be a little closer to Venus and will appear as a particularly slender crescent with a mere 13% of its surface illuminated.
From Cape Town, South Africa, the pairing will appear in a completely dark sky, being easily visible at about 20.30 SAST on 4 December. From Sydney, Australia, at the same local time and date, the moon will be just three days old and have less than 10% of its visible surface illuminated.
