Occultation of Venus on Saturday afternoon 11th September

From the Johannesburg Planetarium

Venus and the Moon SATURDAY SEPT 11TH 2010

On Saturday the Moon will pass directly between southern Africa and Venus.

Residents of southern Africa will see:

Venus during the day

Venus disappearing behind the Moon - an “occultation of Venus” - and later re-appearing on the other side of the Moon

a spectacular early-evening sight: the young crescent Moon just above a brilliantly bright Venus (the “evening star”).

WARNING

It is not necessary to use binoculars or a telescope to view this - and if you accidentally aim at the Sun, you will blind yourself.

However, the temptation to view a crescent Venus near a crescent Moon is great, so if you do take out the telescope during the day, then please make very sure that there is no chance of anyone looking through it at the Sun - the only safe way to do this is to set up the scope in the shade of a building (not a tree!) and making sure it stays in the shade.

Keep the binoculars inside for the occultation - they’re not necessary, they’re not good enough to see a crescent, and you can’t stop the kids taking them into the sunlight.

Looking for Venus

Venus is often (especially now) bright enough to see during the day. But:

  • it’s difficult to locate in the sky, and

  • it’s difficult to get your eyes to focus on it.

When the Moon is near Venus, it’s easier to find and to focus your eyes on Venus.

Looking for Venus and the Moon on Saturday

The Moon will be three days old - a thin crescent, and a challenge to locate.

Look for it early morning - rising in the east from about 9am (eastern SA) or 10am (western SA). At this time, Venus will be on the dark side (east) of the Moon, about four Moon-widths below and a bit to the right of the Moon.

As the day progresses, the Sun and Moon will move across the sky towards the west (due to the rotation of the Earth); the Moon will be about 40 degrees (twice the size of your outstretched spread-out hand) to the east of the Sun. As the day goes by, the Moon will move noticeably towards Venus. Some time during the afternoon (depending on where you live in SA), the Moon will pass directly in front of Venus, hiding it - this is an “occultation”.

The occultation will last from a few minutes (for Musina, on the edge of the “occultation path”) up to nearly an hour and a half (for Cape Town, nearer the centre of the path).

By evening the Moon will have passed Venus; after the Sun has set, the crescent will be clearly visible for a couple of hours, just above Venus (Venus is the very bright “evening star”). This will be a beautiful sight, and if you have a small telescope, get it out and see if you can see the crescent shape of Venus - it needs a bit of magnification.

Another tip: while looking for Venus during the day, stand in the edge of the shade of a building - this will help you to avoid accidentally looking at the Sun.

Times of the occultation

This depends on where you are:

  • Musina: 3:02 pm to 3:15 pm

  • Jhb: 2:37pm to 3:41pm

  • Durban: 2:43 pm to 3:57pm

  • Cape Town: 2:15 pm to 3:41pm

For other towns, see this list

For a photo of a similar sight in 2007, see Astronomy Picture of the Day of 20 June, 2007

Cool, hope I remember to look on Saturday - might be cloudy though >:(

Given the date (9/11 in US-ese) and the mystical connotations associated with a period of nine years, astrologers are bound to make several varieties of mind-bendingly daffy straw from this event – some strange retroactive prognostication that not only reflects the past but also heralds vague and fuzzy things about the future. IIRC, Venus symbolises love and serenity in the astrological canon, so there is no end to the amount of woo-woo its eclipsing can potentially produce…

'Luthon64

Typical, I’ve been looking forward at this for weeks and this is the first cloudy day of spring. :frowning:

Just came back from the Durban Day Concert with many bands including Just Jinger and Prime Circle.

This afternoon, one of the lead singers said “Hey! Look at the moon - what is that?”. The Moon and Venus was behind us, so he was looking straight at it.

Later, whilst singing the song “What he means”, Ard Matthews from Just Jinger (Or Jinjer as it is now spelled) asked the crowd to sing along with the chorus…

Peace, Love, more tolerance.
Faith, hope, trust in the same name of God in whose
name we die for, take an innocent life for
well that’s not what he means…
and it doesn’t matter what Book you read

… and added: “Even if you sing it to that Moon.” :slight_smile:

What a great day!

Took this pic a few minutes after Venus emerged from behind the moon. You can just make out the little crescent. Seeing it first hand is of course awesomeness incarnate! ;D

Mintaka


Wow! That is awesome. Good job with the astrophotography.

666 posts Mintaka. Doesn’t that get you an extra special award?!

righeous photography. i, of course, totally forgot. fml. :-\

At about 7.30 on Saturday I went outside for a break at the restaurant I was playing at and saw the moon with Venus directly underneath. I sent a text to my new girlfriend and her daughter to go and look, and we all had a “moment”. Thought of that song “Somewhere, out there” from that animated movie about the mice going to America. Very romantic. SIGH

We threw a picnic blanket in the back yard and had a good two hours worth of staring and chatting with the s/o on Sat night. It was still a bright speck in the night sky last night.

Beautiful and awe inspiring simply because of having the privilage of knowing what it is, our next door neighbour made it off as “just a bright star, nothing special about it?”

Sounds awesome Faerie. Yup, I choose knowledge over credulity ANY day.