This image, along with the three below, shows the immersion (disappearance) and emersion (reappearance) of Venus as the Moon moved in front of it during the May 16, 2010 occultation. The imager took this shot at 8h48m30s UT.
Longtime
Astronomy magazine contributor and astroimager Anthony Ayiomamitis just sent me a report — complete with images — of the lunar occultation of Venus. An occultation occurs when one (usually large) celestial object passes in front of another (usually small) one. Without further ado, here’s the letter Anthony sent:
For the second time in 3 years, some of us in Europe were
fortunate to have a (daytime) occultation of Venus by Luna. May 16’s event — involving the less than 2.5-day-old Moon with a phase of only 6.6 percent — was quite challenging due to the bright sky offered by the nearby Sun and the presence of Beaufort-scale 5 winds (18 to 24 mph). Although the two were quite visible naked-eye in 2007, this was not the case for this occultation in spite of repeated attempts.
I have attached four images. There was a serious lack of contrast thanks to the proximity of the Moon to the Sun with Luna barely being visible through my viewfinder. In fact, I originally had set up with my 2x Barlow lens in place, and I
could not locate the Moon, although Venus was a no-brainer. Once I removed the Barlow and refocused, the Moon became visible — slightly.
This image of the immersion of Venus behind the Moon was captured at 8h49m30s UT.
Venus begins to reappear in this image taken at 9h34m15s UT.
Venus reappears from behind the Moon. This image was taken at 9h35m15s UT.
Anthony listed his imaging details on his website: 6.2-inch Astro-Physics StarFire EDF apochromatic refractor at f/7.5, Canon EOS 5D Mark 1 digital SLR, ISO 800, combination of two 1/5000-second exposures, taken May 16, 2010, between 8h48m30s UT and 9h35m15s UT, from Athens, Greece.
Thanks, Anthony. Your persistence once again led to a successful outcome.