A lunar occultation of Venus will take place on March 24, which will be visible in the nighttime sky in Hong Kong. The moon will block the light from Venus, and the planet will disappear from view for an hour and six minutes, between 7.47pm and 8.53pm.
This astronomical event is significant because it usually occurs in the daytime as Venus always appears close to the sun, which makes its lunar occultation difficult to view with the naked eye. However, the nighttime event on March 24 will be easy to observe without binoculars or telescopes as Venus is the brightest celestial object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.
On March 24, the Moon will be in the waxing crescent phase, and will have just started to become visible again after the New Moon. As the Moon will be only 3.8 degrees above the horizon when Venus reappears on its western side, those interested in watching the occultation should find a spot with an almost completely unobstructed view towards the northwestern horizon.
The next time a nighttime lunar occultation of Venus will be visible in Hong Kong will be on May 31, 2063.
Header image credits: OrleiJr via Canva
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