Hiding Venus behind the Moon

24 Nov 2008

On the 1st of December, the Moon glides in front of the Venus, on its moonthly journey around the Earth.

[Click on the images below for a larger version] Above: The moon begins to hide Venus at 15:50 GMT.

Venus is once again visible at 17:19 GMT.

Jupiter is also visible in the evening sky to the top-right of the Moon & Venus. Just look towards the South-West to see all three.

The occultation of Venus will begin a few seconds before 15:50 GMT, disappearing behind the dark (in shadow) side of the Moon in just 40 seconds!

Even though this event begins in daylight, you will still be able to see it with your own eyes, through binoculars, or through a small telescope. To find the Moon, just look towards the South. Make sure that you do not look anywhere near the Sun to the West. Looking towards the Sun can do serious long-term damage to your eyes.

The Moon finally uncovers Venus once again at 17:19:15 GMT, and it takes Venus about 40 seconds to re-appear.

By the time Venus re-appears, the Sun is below the horizon and it is dark. So it promises to be an interesting sight to see the bright Venus slowly re-appear from behind the Moon! Although, when it does so, the Moon and Venus will only be 8 degrees above the horizon as seen from Greenwich.

As shown in the lower-right image, Jupiter is also visible, just to the top-right of Venus and the Moon.