Photo of the Week for December 11, 2015
The morning sky is where all the planetary action has taken place for the past couple of months. A recent highlight was the December 7 close encounter between the crescent Moon and the brilliant planet Venus. Later that day, the Moon actually passed in front of Venus, eclipsing the planet.

The photo shown here was captured in morning twilight by Canadian astrophotographer Klaus Brasch from his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, a few hours before the Moon covered Venus. He used a Canon 6D DSLR camera and 92mm f/5.5 TMB apochromatic refractor telescope to record this 2-second exposure at ISO 400.