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Moon and Venus to pair up Monday night

By WTOP Staff

Greg Redfern, wtop.com

WASHINGTON — Skywatchers will get a treat on Monday, Dec. 26 right after sunset as the thin crescent Moon and Venus pair up in the west.

Start looking at 4:30 p.m. in the southwest and brilliant Venus and the moon will be very close to one another. As an added bonus, the moon will have earthshine present — the unlit portion of the moon illuminated by reflected sunlight off of our planet’s ocean and clouds.

This is a celestial treat worth seeing. If you have binoculars, it will enhance the view of the moon. Using a camera, you can take pictures by mounting your camera on a tripod and taking a number of exposures. About one second at ISO 200 should capture the scene.

Read more about it here.

The sky this week.

Follow Greg Redfern’s daily blogto keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.

You can email Redfern at skyguyiva@gmail.com.

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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

Emergency guide: What you should do to prepare for emergencies

By WTOP Staff
WASHINGTON — Do you know what you'd do if an emergency hits? What if you're at work, your spouse is stuck in traffic and your children are in school? There's no way to plan for every emergency, but you can make sure you're prepared for different scenarios, including making a plan for your family and building a kit of emergency supplies.
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