Venus over the Moon
September 14th 2010 00:46
Category: No Category
Earlier this month Venus was obscured briefly by the Moon
occultations occur frequently in space. Small objects like asteroids and planets can cross a path of a star or moon.
These objects are briefly obscured by the moon or any large celestial body and can be seen sometimes with the naked eye or with the aid of a telescope.
The purpose of an occultation can provide valuable data on the size speed and direction of an object by measuring the time it takes the object to cross another known object in space.
Daylight occulations are particularly interesting when the Moon and Venus objects crossed paths.
Crossed paths is not really the right term. These objects do intersect but the distances between them is in the order of several million kilometers.
This video shot on September 11 2010 in South Africa by Kerneels Mulder.
The video shows Venus rising from behind the Moon. If you notice closely Venus is illuminated as a tiny crescent moon.
image courtesy of K. Mulder animation by Carlcan
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Yes how true, considering when talking in distance being measured in light years, just a mere million miles can be considered "close."