Moon and Venus at Dawn

As seen on Astronomy Picture of the Day brilliant Venus and a thin crescent Moon stood together above the eastern horizon just before sunrise on June 30, 2011. The lovely celestial pairing is captured in this colorful twilight skyview overlooking Tahtali reservoir near Izmir, Turkey. For some, the close conjunction could be viewed as a daylight occultation. While Venus was nearing the end of its morning performance, the old lunar cresent, about 24 hours from its New Moon phase, was also bidding farewell for now to the dawn. Click on the second photo to see a wide-angle image of this view.