Placid Moon too bright for Venus today

CHANDIGARH: Citizens would be treated to a play of hide-and-seek between heavenly bodies — moon and Venus — on Sunday. The earth's satellite would block the brightest star from view of the creatures inhabiting this planet. But as the occultation would be seen during daytime in India, it would be hard to view. Sunset would, however, paint a different canvas on the sky with the placid crescent moon close to the bright Venus.An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another that passes between it and the observer.
"On Sunday, the moon will come between Earth and Venus, obstructing its view. In the beginning, the moon positioned at about 30 degrees east of the sun along with Venus will be placed well above the horizon," said director of Delhi-based Nehru Planetarium Rathnasree over phone on Saturday.
Describing the happening, the director said, "City residents can view the celestial formation, which is not rare, from 3.49 pm to 5.13 pm. A person should face west and look about 30 degrees above the sun but he should not look at the sun directly. Venus will be to the moon's east. However, as the event will happen in the daytime, one will not be able to view Venus going behind or peeping out from behind the moon. But once the sun sets, the moon-Venus pair with the crescent moon close to bright Venus in the west will form an ethereal sight."
The formation would again be visible on June 30, 2011 and February 26, 2014. But one would have to wait till September 16, 2036 to see this event at night. Last time, it happened on June 18, 2007.