Lunar occultation of Venus

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The lunar occultation of Venus refers to a natural phenomenon in which the Moon passes in front of Venus, obstructing it from view on some regions of the Earth. Since the orbital planes of Venus and the Moon are tilted at different angles relative to the ecliptic, occultations happen infrequently. The last time this occurred was on April 7, 2024. [1]

Observations

YearObservation
503The Chinese Book of Wei records the lunar occultation of Venus on 5 August 503. [2]
554Medieval sources in Metz record a lunar occultation of Venus at around this time. The most likely date was 9 October 554. [3]
1476Castilian astronomer Abraham Zacuto made a detailed report of a lunar occultation of Venus on 24 July 1476. [4]
1529Renaissance polymath Nicolaus Copernicus observed the Moon occult Venus on 12 March 1529, and he used this and records of occultations from antiquity to deduce the motion of Venus. [5]
1923On 13 January 1923, a lunar occultation of Venus was photographed from the United States. [6]
1980From the British Isles on 5 October 1980, a rare lunar eclipse sequence of Venus and the star Regulus was viewed by multiple observers. [7]
2007The Venus Express spacecraft was in orbit around Venus when a lunar occultation was observed on 18 July 2007. Scientists used the radio transmissions to measure the electron density in the Moon's ionosphere. [8]
2015On the 7 December 2015, the lunar occultation of Venus was observed by astronomers in Texas. [9] Similarly, Joel Kowsky, the astronomer of NASA recorded the lunar occultation of Venus the same day from Washington, D.C. The lunar occultation of Venus on this date was the second lunar occultation of the Venus in the same year. [10]
2020Venus was eclipsed by the Moon at 19 June 2020 from 9:44:15 - 10:46:12 PM (UTC+2). [11] [12]
2021In the year 2021, Venus was occultated in the evening from 6 November to 8 November. [13] On 8 November 2021, the lunar occultation of Venus was observed from the Eastern part of Asia. [14]
2023On 24 March 2023, there was a lunar occultation viewed from Taiwan. [15]

On 9 November 2023, there was a lunar occultation observed from Europe. [16] [17] [18]

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References

  1. ↑ "Lunar Occultation of Venus". In-The-Sky.org. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  2. ↑ Sôma, Mitsuru; Tanikawa, Kiyotaka (April 2016). "Earth rotation derived from occultation records". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 68 (2). id. 29. Bibcode:2016PASJ...68...29S. doi:10.1093/pasj/psw020.
  3. ↑ Martínez Usó, María José; Marco Castillo, Francisco J. (May 2019). "Occultation of Planets by the Moon in European Narrative Medieval Sources" (PDF). Journal for the History of Astronomy. 50 (2): 192–220. Bibcode:2019JHA....50..192M. doi:10.1177/0021828619845950 . Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  4. ↑ Goldstein, Bernard R.; Chabás, José (1999). "An Occultation of Venus Observed by Abraham Zacut in 1476". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 30 (3). doi:10.1177/0021828699030003.
  5. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (2024). Our Moon – How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN   9780593129739.
  6. ↑ Boss, Lewis J.; et al. (1923). "Occultation of Venus January 13, 1923". Popular Astronomy. 31: 148. Bibcode:1923PA.....31..148B.
  7. ↑ Amery, G. W. (April 1982). "The Lunar Occultation of Venus, 1980 October 5". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 92 (3): 132–134. Bibcode:1982JBAA...92..132A.
  8. ↑ Pluchino, S.; et al. (2008). "Radio occultation measurements of the lunar" (PDF). Memorie della Supplementi. 12: 53. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  9. ↑ "Lunar occultation of Venus @ not so bad Astrophotography". not so bad Astrophotography. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  10. ↑ "Lunar Occultation of Venus". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  11. ↑ Bottas, Aristeidis (November 25, 2020). "Occultation of Venus 2020". Universities Space Research Association. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  12. ↑ Rao, Joe (June 18, 2020). "The Moon and Venus pair on June 19th". Sky & Telescope Magazine.
  13. ↑ Byrd, Deborah (November 6, 2021). "Moon and Venus November 6, 7 and 8". earthsky.org. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  14. ↑ Nakra, Rishabh (2021-11-06). "Watch Venus Hide Behind The Moon In A Spectacular Astronomical Event This Month" . Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  15. ↑ "Lunar Occultation of Venus—Highlight for night sky". Tainan Science Education Museum. 2023. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023.
  16. ↑ TWC India Edit Team (March 25, 2023). "Venus and the Moon Form a Rare Spectacle in Friday's Night Sky". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  17. ↑ Ford, Dominic. "Lunar occultation of Venus". In-The-Sky.org. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  18. ↑ Beall, Abigail (November 8, 2023). "When to see Venus disappear behind the moon this Thursday". newscientist.com. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
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