                        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.

                              2026 September 15
     A blue sky has a light cloud crossing the middle of the image. Two
   crescent objects are visible through the cloud, a large faint crescent
       in the center and a brighter crescent above it. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                    A Daytime Eclipse: Moon Occults Venus
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat

   Explanation: There was something behind the clouds. Upon close
   inspection, it was the Moon, which was hard to see yesterday around
   noon above the small village of Cessy, France. But soon, it was not
   only the Moon. As expected, a bright dot suddenly appeared from behind
   the Moon -- the planet Venus far in the distance. Captured in the
   single featured exposure, both appeared to show a crescent phase. The
   Moon's crescent was quite slight -- with only about 10 percent of its
   face illuminated by the Sun. In contrast, Venus's crescent was more
   full -- showing about 25 percent illumination. Venus appeared brighter
   because it is nearer the Sun and because its clouds are more reflective
   than the dark lunar surface. An occultation of Venus by the Moon is
   visible to only about 10 percent of the Earth, but in yesterday's event
   even most of that was experiencing daytime.

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                      Tomorrow's picture: galactic eye
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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