Xinhua News Agency, Tianjin, May 25 (Reporter Zhou Runjian) Can you see stars during the day?
The answer is yes.
Astronomy science experts introduced that around 12:00 on May 27th, a daytime lunar occultation of Venus will occur in Tianyu. At that time, the public in some parts of the southeastern coast of my country can see the moon "passing" in front of Venus, completely blocking Venus, and The public in northern my country can see Venus accompanying the moon.
Usually, Venus is the brightest celestial body in the whole sky except the sun and moon, so the lunar occultation of Venus is very valuable in the "occultation" celestial phenomenon.
Lunar occultation of Venus means that the moon travels between the earth and Venus, and the three are aligned in a straight line. At that time, the moon will "pass by" in front of Venus.
Since the apparent diameter of the Moon is much larger than that of Venus, it will completely block Venus when it "passes by".
Venus completely "disappears" in a short period of time, and then reappears quickly after a while.
There was a daytime lunar occultation of Venus at noon on November 8, 2021, but it was only visible in northeastern my country.
"Last year, when the moon occulted Venus, the moon phase was a crescent moon. Because it happened in winter, the horizon was very low. This year, the moon phase is a waning moon, which happened in summer and the horizon was high. This is a favorable side, but the moon phase is high. Smaller, closer to the sun, and more difficult to observe." said Xiu Lipeng, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society.
Specifically, in this daytime lunar occultation of Venus, the center of the occlusion zone mainly passes through the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. Parts of southern and eastern China are also in the occultation zone. Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, southern Hunan and other places are all in the occultation zone. can be seen, while other regions can see Venus "passing" by the moon.
"Because the sky is very bright, it is very difficult to observe the occultation of Venus with the naked eye. You need binoculars or a small astronomical telescope. It is better if you have an equatorial mount that can automatically find stars. In the telescope, the waning moon looks like a blue sky background. There seems to be nothing, and Venus is slightly brighter. Since both Venus and the moon are brighter than the sky in the background of the blue sky, this celestial phenomenon of the moon occulting Venus can be enjoyed during the day with a telescope or a telephoto lens of a camera. We can also Note that the moon and Venus are both in phase, and they are 'the moon thin and gold fat' when occulting, which is a sharp contrast. It should be noted that you must be very careful to avoid the sun when observing, otherwise it will easily cause eye damage and observation instruments were damaged." Xiu Lipeng said.
Not as lucky as the public in parts of the southeastern coast, the public in northern parts of our country can only see Venus with the moon.
"Although Venus accompanying the moon is not a rare celestial phenomenon, due to the high brightness of both Venus and the moon, this 'star and moon fairy tale' is still very interesting, especially this time it happened in the daytime, it is definitely worth admiring. " said Xiu Lipeng.