The bright planet Venus appears fairly close to the setting waxing crescent moon tonight. Take a moment after sunset to look in the southwestern sky about a half hour after sunset. If you are there the view might be best 45 minutes after sunset.
There is plenty to enjoy. You might get a view of Earthshine on the moon. This is when the dark side of the moon actually is partly illuminated by the Earth. Venus and the moon will be around eight degrees apart. It is close, but not a dramatic scene like we've seen before. This conjunction of these two celestial objects will be short as the two set together amid the light of twilight..
You've got another chance Saturday night, when the moon is higher and farther from the planet. Venus and any crescent moon is a memorable sight.
As we wrote about last week, the spring tides this weekend will be extreme. The moon is fairly close to the Earth and so its gravitational pull this weekend will make our tides seem more dramatic.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., March 20 | 6:45 | 6:53 |
| Sat., March 21 | 6:43 | 6:54 |
| Sun., March 22 | 6:42 | 6:55 |
| Mon., March 23 | 6:40 | 6:56 |
| Tues., March 24 | 6:38 | 6:57 |
| Wed., March 25 | 6:37 | 6:58 |
| Thurs., March 26 | 6:35 | 7:00 |
| Fri., March 27 | 6:33 | 7:01 |
| Day | Max (Fº) | Min (Fº) | Inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 13 | 54 | 28 | *T |
| March 14 | 48 | 36 | 0.01 |
| March 15 | 51 | 27 | 0.06 |
| March 16 | 48 | 38 | 0.00 |
| March 17 | 55 | 39 | 1.02 |
| March 18 | 44 | 36 | 0.00 |
| March 19 | 37 | 20 | 0.00 |
This article appears in March 20, 2026.