An occultation of Venus is seen from L’Aquila, Italy, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by Lorenzo Di … [+]
Venus disappeared behind a slim crescent moon this morning, with sky-watchers and photographers posting images across social media of the night sky’s two brightest objects.
The rare sight—technically called an occultation by astronomers—was seen in Europe, Russia and a small part of northeastern Africa. The planet’s actual disappearance (ingress) and re-emergence (egress) took place in daylight.
The events, which were separated by about an hour, were mainly glimpsed between clouds by observers using binoculars and cameras.
Waning Crescent Moon
During the event, the moon was in its waning crescent phase, with just 16% of its surface lit by the sun. Venus, meanwhile, was 58% lit, but since it’s relatively close to Earth at the moment, it’s shining particularly brightly.
Venus disappeared for up to an hour behind the moon, depending on the exact location of the observer.
Close Conjunction
From North America, the view was different—but no less beautiful—where stargazers saw a very close conjunction of the moon and Venus.
Occultations of Venus by the moon are not rare, with the last occurring on March 24 and next happening on April 7, though it’s rare for the event to be seen from a specific location. The March event was seen only in Taiwan.
America’s Occultation
The next occultation will be seen from the U.S. as well as Canada, Mexico and southern Greenland, according to In-the-sky.org.
According to that website, the observability of occultations is so limited because the moon is so close to the Earth that its position in the sky varies by as much as two degrees across the world.
Warm-Up To Totality
It just so happens that the next occultation of Venus by the moon will come to America the day before a similar, but far more exciting event—the “Great American Eclipse,” a total solar eclipse occurring across North America.
Millions of eclipse-chasers will likely already be in the path of totality—a 125 miles wide path of totality that will stretch from the Pacific coast of northwestern Mexico to Atlantic Canada via 15 U.S. states.
As luck would have it, the path of the occultation will loosely follow the path of totality.
Moon Hides Sun
From inside that path of totality, the moon will block all of the sun for up to 4 minutes 26 seconds, creating a twilight-like darkness and a 360 degree sunset during which it will be possible to see the sun’s wispy white corona with the naked eye.
The U.S. states crossed by the path of totality comprise Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
It won’t happen again in the contiguous U.S. until 2044 and 2045, when two will occur in successive years, first in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, and then across the nation from California to Florida.
Wishing you wide eyes and clear skies.
Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Jessica Irvine is a tech enthusiast specializing in gadgets. From smart home devices to cutting-edge electronics, Jessica explores the world of consumer tech, offering readers comprehensive reviews, hands-on experiences, and expert insights into the coolest and most innovative gadgets on the market.
