Tonight, July 17, skywatchers across the Northern Hemisphere are advised to look west shortly after sunset, where a delicate crescent moon shines close to a bright Venus — a sight that will repeat at the same time each evening this weekend.
The pairing coincides with the start of the Perseid meteor shower, one of the celestial highlights of 2026.
For those inspired to bring that lunar fascination indoors, Architectmade’s Moon offers a tactile counterpart to tonight’s sky show.
Designed by Bjarke Ingels — Denmark’s most influential architect of his generation and founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) — the piece translates NASA’s 2021 lunar terrain data into a solid maple wood model, with the Moon’s mountains and craters carved to match the exact geometry of the real surface.
Discreet brass nails mark the historic Apollo landing sites, adding a layer of historical precision to the sculptural object. Ingels, whose BIG is separately collaborating with NASA on a sustainable lunar habitat concept, frames the piece as a way of making the Moon tangible: something to hold, study, and reach toward, rather than only observe from a distance — fitting for a weekend when the real Moon is doing exactly that, sharing the western sky with Venus.
Moon is produced in a compact 12 × 12 cm format, sold individually, in certified solid maple wood.
Images and content courtesy of Architectmade.