There was something behind the clouds. Upon close inspection, it was the Moon, which was hard to see yesterday around noon above the small village of Cessy, France. But soon, it was not only the Moon. As expected, a bright dot suddenly appeared from behind the Moon — the planet Venus far in the distance.
On Wednesday, June 17, skywatchers across the United States—and parts of Canada—enjoyed a rare event: a daytime lunar occultation of Venus. A lunar occultation occurs when the Moon moves directly in front of another celestial object from our viewpoint on Earth, briefly hiding it from sight. This time, the Moon slipped in front of Venus
The proximity to the waning moon offers a good opportunity for spotting them. To the naked eye, they will appear as a small group of bright points next to the moon, as if they were diamonds. Binoculars will allow you to make out many more. The encounter will happen again on September 30, when the
Use the Moon to find Antares and the Teapot, spot brilliant Venus, welcome the equinox, and see the Harvest Moon near Saturn and Neptune. Sept. 14-20: Use the Moon to find Antares and the Teapot; dark skies may reveal the Milky Way center Sept 18: Venus reaches peak brilliance for this evening appearance Sept. 22:
Venus understandably needed a break—”To stay interested in tennis,” she explained to Oprah Winfrey in 2003, “I have to mix it up with other things”—so the following month, she quietly swapped vows with Preti in Ischia, Italy. “But we didn’t have enough time to do the paperwork,” Venus told Vogue, hence their subsequent week-long celebration in Florida
Explanation: The Buck Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of July. In this colorful Adriatic sea and skyscape captured on July 28 from Krk Island along the coast of Croatia, a full Buck Moon is just rising over distant mountains. Since a full moon rises as the Sun sets, Earth’s shadow also
