See an amazing collection of Venus and Mercury photos at EarthSky Community Photos.
Venus and Mercury will be near the moon this weekend. Charts and info here.
View larger at EarthSky Community Photos . | Riste Spiroski in Ohrid, North Macedonia, captured Venus, Mercury, and the star Elnath on May 22, 2020. Riste wrote:”I’m sending you 2 pictures that I shot 40 minutes ago, at around 9 pm local time of the close pairing of Mercury, Venus, and Elnath right after sunset. These are shot in Ohrid on the West side of the city.”
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Photo taken on May 21, 2020 by Jean-Baptiste Feldmann/Cielmania , who said: “The dancer and the planets: Tonight the brilliant Venus is just above the discreet Mercury. Thanks to Christine for her complicity and grace.”
View larger . | Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, wrote: “I have just completed a grand summary of pictures of Venus and Mercury setting taken from May 18, 2020 until they paired on May 21. This GIF consists of 24 images, taken over those evenings. The 2 planets set a few minutes earlier each day as Mercury rose rapidly towards Venus, and as Venus moved a little lower in the evening sky. This caused the average brightness of the pictures taken on each day to increase. The presence of the sunset illuminated cloud band on May 18 was an unexpected bonus which adds beauty to the images taken that day.” Thank you, Peter!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Alexander Krivenyshev of the website WorldTimeZone.com caught Venus and Mercury on one of the evenings when they were closest – May 21, 2020 – shining over New York City. Alexander was in North Bergen, New Jersey, when he captured this image. Thanks, Alexander!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Mike Shaw captured this beautiful image on May 20. He wrote: “The Mercury – Venus conjunction of 2020 is seen here setting over a peaceful lake in the Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge in central Minnesota. If only the sounds of the frogs and songbirds could be included! Reflections of both planets are visible in the still lake surface, a good indicator of the serenity of the evening. This image was made under the provisions of a Special Use permit to access the normally closed wildlife refuge at night.” Mike has a wider view of this same scene, here . Thank you, Mike!
The young moon will sweep past Venus and Mercury on May 23, 24 and 25, 2020. Read more .
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, captured Venus and Mercury on May 20, when they were about 3 degrees apart. As viewed from the Southern Hemisphere, Mercury was seen to the lower left of Venus that night. These objects are moving rapidly on the sky’s dome with respect to each other. Your perspective on them also shifts as seen from various parts of the globe. Try Stellarium-Web for a precise view from your location. Thank you, Helio!
View larger at EarthSky Community Photos . | Ken Ferrere caught Venus and Mercury in the sunset sky over Groton, Massachusetts, on May 20, 2020. Thank you, Ken!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Jenney Disimon in Sabah, N. Borneo, caught Venus and Mercury on May 19, 2020. Thank you, Jenney!
View larger at EarthSky Community Photos . | Peter Lowenstein in the Southern Hemisphere (Mutare, Zimbabwe) made a successful attempt to photograph Venus and Mercury setting after sunset on Monday, May 18, 2020. In the larger version of this mosaic, you can see both planets. Venus is bright, and above the crest of the hill. Mercury is fainter and lower in the sky, above the lower ridgeline of the hill, in the bottom middle of the photo. You can see that Mercury comes close to setting behind the hill as the mosaic progresses from upper left to bottom right (as time passes after sunset). Thank you, Peter!
Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky Community of the planets Venus and Mercury. These worlds are closest on our sky’s dome for all of 2020 around May 21 and 22.
See an amazing collection of Venus and Mercury photos at EarthSky Community Photos.
Venus and Mercury will be near the moon this weekend. Charts and info here.
Deborah Byrd
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About the Author:
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.