Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 June 19
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
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The Moon & Venus Over Geneva
Credit & Copyright: Gregory Giuliani (AstroImagine)

Explanation: The Moon, fresh from a biting encounter with the Sun last week, appeared next to threaten Venus. The waxing Moon appeared to glide right past, however, just a few degrees away. Venus, of course, is much further away from the Earth than the Moon, so the passing was really just an angular illusion. Pictured above on June 13, a fading sunset finds the crescent Moon and Venus between clouds and above the city lights of Geneva, Switzerland.

Tomorrow's picture: big beautiful galaxy


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.