Moon and Venus appear together in the western sky on May 18, visible across Brazil and beyond

On the evening of 18 May, a thin crescent moon will rise a few degrees to the right of the bright planet Venus in the western sky shortly after sunset. The two objects will seem only about three degrees apart – roughly one‑third of a clenched fist held at arm’s length – making the pairing easy to spot with the naked eye. Venus will shine at magnitude ‑4.0, while the crescent moon, though only about 7 % illuminated, will appear brighter at magnitude ‑7.1.

The alignment is a perspective effect; the Moon is approximately 384 000 km from Earth while Venus is about 200 million km away, so they are not physically close. The event will be observable without telescopes throughout Brazil and other regions where the western horizon is clear after sunset. Astronomers note that the timing also offers a good opportunity for telescopic viewing of Venus’s gibbous disk as it approaches its peak evening visibility later in June.