Early risers across the world will wake to a stunning cosmic display as the moon and Venus appear snuggled together in the pre-dawn sky Tuesday.
The event is due to Earth’s natural satellite making its closest approach to the hellish world that will be visible around 3:11 am ET, and the pair will part ways around 4:25 pm ET when our planet sinks below the horizon.
The crescent moon and Venus will appear five degrees from each other, both visible to the naked eye.
This celestial show will be visible worldwide, but the eclipse of the sunset on October 14, known as the ‘Ring of Fire,’ will only be seen in the Americas.
Early risers across the world will wake to a stunning cosmic display as the moon and Venus appear snuggled together in the pre-dawn sky Tuesday
While the moon and Venus meeting in the night sky is a spectacular show, the conjunction is fairly regular – it happens about every 19 months.
The moon is visiting the constellations Cancer, Leo, and Virgo starting today until October 15.
But it will sit next to Venus early Tuesday as both objects appear above the horizon for several hours.
The constellation Leo will host the duo, and its brightest star, Regulus, will be shining between the planet and the lunar crescent.
The moon is close to its average distance from Earth at 238,855 miles, whereas Venus is almost three-quarters of the way to the Sun.
Venus, the hottest planet in the Solar System and the second closest to our star, is around 280 times farther away than the moon.
On Wednesday, the moon will only be 10 percent illuminated for an even slimmer crescent.
The annular solar eclipse on October 14 will begin at 12:13 pm ET in Oregon and conclude three hours later in Texas
However, one of the biggest cosmic shows is set for Saturday when the moon passes between the Earth – the first time in 11 years.
The annular solar eclipse will begin at 12:13 pm ET in Oregon and conclude three hours later in Texas.
Only eight states will be in the eclipse path: Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas.
The annular eclipse also extends into Mexico, Central America and South America.
While other eclipses see the moon temporarily block the sun’s light entirely, the moon is too far from Earth in an annular eclipse.
This means it is positioned perfectly to allow a ring of light or ‘fire’ to burst through – to spectacular effect.
