See A Jaw-Dropping Crescent Moon Join Planets After Sunset This Week

BreakingInnovationScienceSee A Jaw-Dropping Crescent Moon Join Planets After Sunset This WeekByJamie Carter,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.Follow AuthorMay 18, 2026, 03:00am EDTToplineAfter last week’s New Supermoon, the night sky springs back to life with a series of delicate evening alignments. A young crescent moon returns to the western sky after sunset and passes the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. Cue some of the most eye-catching naked-eye sights of the month. With dark skies still lingering early in the week, this is an ideal time to get outside and reconnect with the sky. Here’s everything you need to know about stargazing this week, May 18-24. A young crescent moon returns to the western sky after sunset and passes the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter.gettyTimelineMonday, May 18A very young 7%-lit waxing crescent moon appears low in the west shortly after sunset, sitting very close to brilliant Venus. The pairing is brief and requires a clear horizon, but it’s one of the most elegant sights of the month.Tuesday, May 19Now 15%-lit, the waxing crescent moon climbs slightly higher and is now halfway between Venus and Jupiter, above. The three objects begin to form a loose line in the twilight sky.Wednesday, May 20The now 24% waxing crescent has surged beyond Jupiter in daylight, and by sunset, it forms a line with two bright stars in the constellation Gemini — Castor and Pollux. Venus remains lower on the horizon, completing a striking trio of bright objects in the west after sunset.Friday, May 22The crescent moon waxes and moves eastward each evening, leaving the planets behind. As it grows brighter, it begins to interfere with darker skies, tonight reaching 45%-lit as it passes close to Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo.May 18's close conjunction of the moon and Venus. NASA/JPL-Caltech if (!...