More than meets the eye

Moon and Venus - 06th Dec 2013

This was the view from my balcony when I returned home today, and that is what prompted me to take the next photo.

The photo above, is very unlikely to be what you think it is. No it's not the Moon. It is in fact the planet Venus.

Sometimes called the twin sister of Earth, Venus is the closest planet to Earth and also the closest in size. Due to the similar size and density, gravity on Venus is also pretty similar to that of Earth. But the similarities end there. The atmosphere of Venus is 96% Carbon Dioxide and is 92 times denser than that of Earth. The surface temperature of Venus is thought to be about 462 C.

Due to the close proximity to Earth, Venus displays very prominent phases. In fact Venus and Mercury are the only two planets that display a full range of phases like the Moon. Contrary to intuition, Venus appears the brightest when the phase is a crescent as opposed to full. Venus is right now in its brightest peak. It will reach this peak again in February next year (just two months) and will hit it again only in July 2015!

Venus - 30th Sep 2013

 
While Venus is in its crescent phase, coincidentally, Moon is also in its crescent phase. And here is how she looked like today.

Moon - 6th Dec 2013