Watch the Young Moon Greet Mercury at Sunset
Bob King
On February 18th, the willowy crescent Moon has a close shave with Mercury, so close that it occults the planet from some U.S. cities.
Well before the official start of spring, skywatchers divine the season's arrival in the slant of the crescent Moon at dusk. From fall through early winter, the young Moon keeps low in the southern sky, where bright twilight makes a day-old crescent difficult if not impossible for Northern Hemisphere observers to see. But by February, its angle to the western...