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Thursday, December 04, 2008

Occultation of Venus

On December 1st there was a close conjunction of the New Moon with the planets Jupiter and Venus. Indeed, Venus itself was "eclipsed" as the moon passed in front of her (technically, when the moon obscures a planet, the term is occultation).

I was able to see the event on a clear cloudless night on the shores of the Irish Sea in Wales.

Jupiter is plain to see above the New Moon, but where is Venus?

The reason you can see the "dark" part of the moon's disc is due to sunlight reflected from earth back to the moon, and then back again to us!

Ah, she was hiding behind the Moon. You can see her just
peeping out at the bottom right of the moon

Growing less shy now, Venus decides to show herself to the world...

Growing in confidence, she comes right out!

By the Light of the Silvery Moon... The Moon, Venus and Jupiter
set over the Irish Sea in Wales keeping company with each other

You may click on the picture for a treat...


Sky Watch Friday

Maalie selects images from his albums of travel pictures for Skywatch

Click here for a complete list
of all the participants
of this week's Sky Watch!


23 Comments:

Blogger lorenzothellama said...

Those pictures are amazing. Clever old you for taking such interesting ones.

Not keen on Doris Day though!

1:04 pm  
Blogger Shrinky said...

Maalie, these shots are wonderful, and the commentary lovely. I particulary love the final shot. Thank you for that, I meant to peek out but missed it (story of my life!). Smile

1:24 pm  
Blogger Jenny Holden said...

Love the photos. Chris and I enjoyed this spectacle the other day too. Really beautiful, and so odd to see a planet appear from the moon!

I liked the treat too.

2:18 pm  
Blogger Photo Cache said...

Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

9:00 pm  
Blogger Mary said...

Amazingly beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful sight. :)

9:08 pm  
Blogger Pretty Life Online said...

Nature is truly beautiful! Happy weekend! Hope you can have time to visit my corner too...

10:33 pm  
Blogger Arija said...

Loved the way you put your post together with the comments and finished off with D.D., thanks, it was great fun.

11:00 pm  
Blogger Jane Hards Photography said...

Yes I missed this too. Very special images, and not your everyday skywatch.

11:43 pm  
Blogger Raven said...

Beautiful series of photos nicely narrated.

12:37 am  
Blogger The Good Life in Virginia said...

nice capture...thanks for sharing with us...

2:53 am  
Blogger Kiwi Nomad said...

So, pardon my astronomic ignorance, but how does this event compare to the 'transit of Venus' that Captain Cook made a huge voyage to see, stumbling into little ol' NZ in the process?
Word: "huffeta"

4:09 am  
Blogger Grammy said...

I love all your photos.
This is the best one yet.

We had clouds so we were not lucky to see Jupiter.

Happy sky watch Friday

4:42 am  
Blogger Merisi said...

Beautiful images! :-)

You were not only more patient than I was, also more knowledgeable. I had no idea that Venus would travel behind the moon, I was just happy about seeing the three of them together, right after sunset. I missed Venus' passage because I didn't know to check again a little later.

8:06 am  
Blogger vincibene said...

Wonderful pictures!
I was at work and had no camera, but I see it.

8:28 am  
Blogger This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Maalie: What a neat look at conjunction of the Moon and the planets, very nice captures.

9:41 am  
Blogger Ted M. Gossard said...

Beautiful, indeed. Wonderful photos, Maalie, and great explanation of them! :) Unfortunately we're mostly clouds this time of the year due to the lake, so I held no hope of seeing it here, but glad you got it for us.

11:38 am  
Blogger Anne-Berit said...

Your pictures are beautiful,all of them.Wish you a wonderful weekend!

3:09 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stunning, amazing, brilliant photography! I'm actually lost for words.
Thks btw for visiting my blog. Glad you did so that I could pay you a visit. It was certainly worth it.
PS. Lapland hasn't really got much of a spring. It goes from winter to summer in one go. It was very sporting of you to camp in the snow :) Bet you got some really nice shots from up there too.

4:53 pm  
Blogger Carletta said...

Great shot! You did a great job recording some history here.

I loved the Doris Day video!

Thanks for coming by and seeing mine.

7:16 pm  
Blogger Gretchen said...

Nice to see it from the other side of the world.

11:42 pm  
Blogger Dina said...

Wow, these are the best photos I've seen of the phenomenon. You must really know how to shoot and/or have a good camera to capture the whole globe of the moon like that. Mine just came out as a crescent moon.
And the reflection in the sea--beautiful.
Nice to see your blog.
Greetings from Jerusalem.

10:22 am  
Blogger Dina said...

Hi again. Are my plants Umbellifers, you ask? Well, maybe. It is a new word to me. They are just common weeds around my village on the hill. I really should learn more plant names. Thanks!
And your song clip is funny. They don't make movies that way anymore (thankfully!). hehe

11:55 am  
Blogger Halfmom, AKA, Susan said...

wonderful photos Maalie - thanks for sharing them!

1:37 pm  

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