City witnesses "rare celestial event" as Moon, Venus come together

New Delhi, June 18 (UNI) In a ''breathtaking and rare celestial event'', two of the brightest objects in the sky - the Venus and the Moon- were witnessed together in the skies tonight.

In an event called the ''lunar occultation of Venus'', the Crescent Moon and Venus made a breathtaking pair in the skies tonight. The sight of a bright Venus "coming close to the dark Crescent Moon" presented a beautiful sight as the Moon moved in front of the Venus after sunset today.

At 2130 hrs, the Moon moved in front of Venus, an event that last occured in November 2004 in the early hours of the day.

A Lunar occultation happens when a celestial body appears to have moved behind the moon. Such events happen very frequently but in most cases the star being occulted may be very faint. However, when bright stars or planets such as Venus are occulted by the moon, the event can be seen with the naked eyes.

If the sky is clear the view of a bright Venus sleeping behind the dark Crescent Moon is like a shy maiden. The best thing about this is that one does not need a telescope to view this phenomenon.

Venus can be identified by its nearness to the Moon. Last time the event took place in November 2004 in the early hours of the day.

Lunar Occultation of Venus is a routine, but breathtakingly beautiful event. Normally, this would not even require a telescope or other equipment to view, as Venus is usually bright enough, not to be washed out by the glare of the Moon. Occultation of Venus by the Moon also happens when the Moon is in a crescent phase, thereby reducing the glare of the Moon.

On occasion of this rare celestial event, Nehru Planetarium and Vigyan Prasar, in collaboration with Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (S.P.A.C.E., an NGO) and the Amateur Astronomers Association of Delhi, organised a public sky-watch at the Jantar Mantar this evening.

The sky-watch started at 1700 hrs, with Sun observations using the Ram Yantra. Telescopes were set up within the Jantar Mantar complex to view the approach of Moon and Venus and also to view Saturn and Jupiter.

UNI