A bright 'star' in the East!

Just before dawn this morning the planet Venus was hovering over the south-eastern horizon, quite close to Spica, the leading star of the constellation Virgo - how apropos! Venus is the twin planet of our Earth in terms of size, but is much closer to the Sun and has a dense, toxic atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid that prevents surface features being observed. It's sufficiently close that even a small pair of binoculars will show its phase: like a tiny waxing Moon!

Talking of which, the last quarter waning Moon was also nearby: with the terminator running through the richest crater fields, it was a splendid sight!