What a difference a week makes to the moon. Last week it was a waning crescent in the morning sky. This week it returns to the evening twilight as a waxing crescent.
The illuminated percentage of the visible surface remains almost the same at 14%, compared with last week’s 12.7%, but this time it is the moon’s eastern hemisphere that is illuminated instead of the west. Last week, the moon’s planetary companions were Mercury and Venus, this week it is the turn of Saturn.
The chart shows the view looking west from London on 14 January at 1700 GMT. Start looking for Saturn shortly after the sun sets and the light begins to drain from the sky. Giant planet Saturn is nine times wider than the Earth and covered in reflective clouds but at a distance of 1.6bn km from Earth, it still appears quite dim.
At around 19.00 GMT, the sky will be fully dark but Saturn will be significantly lower in the sky. Those who can still see it will notice it displays a distinctly yellowish colour. The pairing is also easily visible in the western evening sky from the southern hemisphere.
