Click on the above photo to see it in full size. It shows two photos of the Moon and Venus photographed on February 27, 2009. The inset was photographed through a small telescope that at prime focus gives a magnification comparable to what you get with 8-power binoculars. I was surprised to see the crescent of Venus in the photo.
Though I've seen the crescent of Venus many times at high power through a telescope, I rarely look through binoculars at a time when the crescent is at its largest size.
I've been chasing circumzenithal arcs for some time. This is the first plainly visible one that I anticipated based on the conditions: sun low in the sky, cirrus clouds passing overhead, and no clouds dimming the sun. The photo below was taken about 1 minute before the arc formed using the maximum field of view for my 18-55mm focal length lens and has been cropped in width.
