The crescent Moon will sweep past the planets Venus (the "evening star") and Mercury, plus the asteroid Vesta and the star El Nath on the evenings of May 23 and 24. Vesta is too faint to see without binoculars. The view is better on May 24, when the Moon will be higher in the sky and the entire grouping will be visible a little later, when the glow of twilight is less prominent.