A Star Lineup

Actually, neither are stars. I walked outside this evening (February 26, 2009) and saw this alignment of Venus and the crescent moon. I was in the center of Hutchinson, KS - not the best place to get a photo without pesky street lights. Twilight would fade too fast to make it into the country so I headed to the Kansas State Fairgrounds (our under-utilized version of Central Park) where this pictures was made.

You can really see the Earth shine (light from the sun reflected from the Earth and onto the moon) in this exposure. If you like moon/planet alignments, I shot several in December.

Watch for Venus to be even closer to the moon on Friday night (February 27).