Crescents over Swiss Alps

Conjunction of young crescent Moon and Venus in dusk. The pairing in this image also shows Venus as a small crescent. When Venus is near to the orbital position between the Earth and Sun it appears as a crescent, large enough to resolve with a mid-sized binocular or a small telescope or to image with a telephoto lens. As seen on the National Geographic News the Swiss Alps in this view serves as a heavenly home for a rendezvous between the two celestial crescents. Click on the second photo to see another view of this scene which is featured as Astronomy Picture of the Day. Read about the making of these images on Christoph Malin blog.