Venus Occultation

[Crusader]

I was lucky enough to capture a few images during the Venus/Moon occultation visible from SA. It was my first time with this camera and conditions were less than ideal so the quality isn't great.

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Superb imaging and presentation! A real treat - thanks!

[lcd1080 (Peter)]

One immediately recognizes the size disparity between the two bodies with the Moon having an apparent diameter about 100 times that of Venus.

[Liz]

That looks great Crusader!!

That was from last night I presume .... our Venus was quite away from the Moon, amazing. I thought it would be a bit closer.

[John Hothersall]

Excellent work Crusader, great size comparison.

John.

[asimov (John)]

Great job Crusader! One for the astro photo album.

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by Liz

That looks great Crusader!!

That was from last night I presume .... our Venus was quite away from the Moon, amazing. I thought it would be a bit closer.

No, that was during the daytime, with the Sun only about 40° from the Moon. Hence the washed out appearance. I had to find a shaded spot, hiding the sun in order to even see the Moon.

With the naked eye it was also quite beautiful, since Venus was clearly visible as a dot of light. Venus started moving behind the Moon at around 14:20 (GMT+2) and only appeared again at 15:52.

[Crusader]

Here's a Youtube video I compiled from the images. It gives a decent idea of what it looked like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVKDaBUDKbQ

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Great set of images! I'd love to catch one of these one day.

Cheers,
Stephen

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Great images.

We were looking at the Moon and Venus last night when they still had a few degrees separation. We were wondering where the occultation would be visibile from and were pointing down below the horizon in your direction.

[Crusader]

If Starry Night is accurate, it looks like I might be able to catch another one on the 5th of November. This time it will only barely be a occultation with Venus just crossing behind the outer edge of the Moon.

Will have to get some practice in before that one.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Wow. That's fantastic!

[DaveGee (Dave Gault)]

Originally Posted by Crusader

... another one on the 5th of November.

Nice set of images you have there.

Re: the event in November, below you'll find an Occult prediction as well as a PathMap and a MoonMap. Occult gives the elongation as 12 degrees (from the sun) so be careful and good luck.

[Crusader]

Thanks. I'll check the images when back at my PC. The 5th November one will be in the morning and in a more difficult position. I'll have to see if I can find a spot that would block the Sun. Otherwise I'm not going to risk it.

[scopemankit (Chris)]

Here is a set of the re-appearance taken by Dany Duprez at the Cederberg.