Venus and the moon: What’s going on in the sky tonight

With the moon just a thin fingernail, Venus will stand out in the night sky.

(CNN) — It’s not the flashiest celestial event, and it’s far from the rarest, but the juxtaposition of the crescent moon and Venus on Thursday night will be worth a look.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and you’ve got a clear sky Thursday, look to the southwest and you’ll see a very bright Venus alongside the crescent moon.

Venus — the third-brightest object visible from the Earth, after the sun and moon — is currently appearing as “the evening star.” It is approaching its greatest evening elongation of the year, the point at which, from an Earthly vantage, it appears farthest from the sun.

When the greatest evening elongation is close to the spring equinox, Venus is visible for a maximum time after sunset. On Thursday night, it will set around 9:30 p.m. in the San Francisco Bay Area, about 3½ hours after sunset.

With the moon just a thin fingernail, Venus will stand out in the night sky.

During next month’s crescent moon, a similar display will occur, with Venus reaching maximum elongation on March 24. In the Bay Area, it will be visible for almost four hours that night.

In the latter half of the year, Venus will shift to become “the morning star.”

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