Here is the line of Mercury, Venus and the waxing quarter Moon across the evening sky on February 2, 2020. This version shows how the quarter Moon forms a 90° right angle with the Sun (here just below the horizon), which is why it is a quarter Moon phase. When the Moon is 90° from the Sun (either waxing or waning) we see half of its face illuminated by the Sun. When it is 180° away from the Sun we see 100% of its face illuminated in a Full Moon. Mercury and Venus always appear much closer to the Sun, with Mercury never more than about 18° from the Sun. Mercury was at its greatest elongation of 18° on Feb. 10 this year, just over a week after this image was taken. On this evening it was about 15° from the Sun. Venus never gets more than about 47° from the Sun, and its greatest elongation date this year in 2020 was March 24. On this date, Feb 2, it was 41° from the Sun. This is a single image with the 14mm Sigma lens and Nikon D750. Taken from home in Alberta from a latitude of 51° N.
A selfie of me observing the waxing gibbous Moon in the evening twilight on Dec 8, 2019, using binoculars. I shot this for a book illustration. This is a blend of a long exposure for the sky and foreground and a short exposure for the Moon to retain detail in its disk. With the Canon EOS Ra and 15-35mm RF lens at 35mm.
The nearly 2-day-old and very thin waxing Moon in the evening twilight, above Venus which is just above the tree tops at right, about to set. Venus is just beginning a superb appearance as an evening “star” in late 2019 and early 2020. This is a single exposure with the 135mm lens and Canon EOS R camera. No gradient filters were applied here — the sky was very clear with a womderful natural gradient in colours along the horizon.
