View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Riste Spiroski in Ohrid, North Macedonia, captured this image on May 25,2020, at around 8:30 local time.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Yusha Alfa in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, captured these fireworks on May 24, 2020, against the backdrop of the young moon, with 2 bright planets – Mercury and Venus – visible as well. Eid al-Fitr is the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the Ramadan fast. Yusha wrote: “Hi EarthSky, last evening I captured brilliant conjunction young moon (2% illuminated), Mercury and Venus. It was an amazing view. Bonus fireworks passed the crescent that people celebrate Eid Mubarak.” Thank you, Yusha!View larger at EarthSky Community Photos. | Peter Lowenstein created this mosaic of three views of the young moon as it set over Mutare, Zimbabwe, on May 24, 2020. He wrote, “On 24 May the two day old crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury became visible in the evening sky half-an-hour after sunset despite the glare of a twilight arch. The Moon displaying bright Earthshine was then recorded setting alongside the southern slope of Transmitter Hill from 18.03 to 18.23.” Thank you, Peter.View larger at EarthSky Community Photos. | Martin Hagenbuechle caught the young moon, Mercury, and Venus in the dusk over Palos Verdes, California, on May 24, 2020. Thank you, Martin!View larger at EarthSky Community Photos. | João Pedro Bessa caught the young moon, Mercury, Venus, and a star in the twilight sky above Praia de Barra, Aveiro, Portugal. João wrote: “Taken at the Praia da Barra’s beach, not far away of the seaport entrance, tonight there was a Venus (bottom), Mercury (middle) and the moon with Elnath/Beta Tauri (the one in the same line of Venus and altitude of the moon) also being invited.” Thank you, João!View larger at EarthSky Community Photos. | Marcella Giulia Pace caught the very young moon from near Modica, Sicily, on May 23, 2020. Marcella wrote: “These photos of the thin crescent moon were taken without the use of computerized chasers or automatic finders. I took a very young moon with extreme difficulties. I didn’t see the moon with the unaided eye, not even on the camera screen. I knew however that, at that moment, he was passing in front of my goal. I realized that I had shot it by opening the raw file on the PC and increasing the contrast. The scythe at sunset, however, I saw it with the eye.” Marcella also put together a video of the scene. Thank you, Marcella!
Bottom line: Photos of the May 2020 young moon near the bright planets Venus and Mercury.
Claudia Crowley proofs and edits material for the EarthSky website, newsletter, and videos. She says: "Second only to doing space shuttle documentation, EarthSky is the most exciting job I ever had." Besides NASA, Claudia wrote and edited for tech companies such as Dell, TI, NEC, and IBM. As a support tech during the wild early days of the Internet, she helped introduce hundreds of newcomers to the wonders of cyberspace. Claudia also worked as the general manager of a small wireless ISP and with the professional organization Part-15. She says: “I’ve been a fan of space and science my whole life, and I love being part of an organization where I get to learn more about them all the time.”
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