Time lapse: When the Moon ate Venus

Contributed by
Aug 31, 2012


Occultations like this are relatively rare. If all the planets and moons orbited the Sun in exactly the same plane - that is, if you looked at the solar system from the side and all the orbits aligned perfectly, like looking at a DVD from the side - we'd see occultations all the time.

But in reality all the orbits are tilted a little bit. Venus circles the Sun in an orbit canted by about 3Â° compared to Earth's. The Moon's orbit is tilted by 5 Â°. The Moon orbits the Earth once per month or so, but it usually passes by Venus, missing it by a bit because the orbits aren't aligned. But sometimes, every few years, the dance comes together, and the Moon wil slip directly in front of Venus.


You can get a list of upcoming occultations at the International Occultation Timing Association website. If you get a chance to see the Moon occult a star, take it! Binoculars help a lot, and it's fun to watch the star just suddenly blink out.

Tip o' the dew shield to Astropixie.

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