Moon & Venus Seen In Conjunction In Singapore Sky On 24 Mar Before Lunar Occultation
Last month, the moon, Jupiter and Venus were seen perfectly aligned in a straight line in Singapore’s night sky.
On Friday (24 Mar) night, two of these celestial bodies — the moon and Venus — decided to cut out the third party and get up close and personal with each other.
Source: Simon Lim on Facebook
Netizens shared several enthralling photos of the sight.
Venus seen near tip of crescent moon
People in Singapore lucky enough to catch sight of the celestial phenomenon shared photos on Facebook.
Source: Eric Chang on Facebook
Most of their photos showed what looked like a star very near the higher tip of the crescent moon.
The ‘star’ is actually the planet Venus, according to Space.com.
Moon & Venus in conjunction
Stargazers described the sight as the moon and Venus being “in conjunction”, i.e. seemingly extremely close together.
Source: Stargazing Singapore on Facebook
However, this is an illusion as the moon is 375,700 km from Earth and Venus is 185 million km away from us.
They seemed close because a lunar occultation was imminent, meaning the moon passed in front of the planet. Since the moon is closer to Earth than Venus, when the three line up in a straight line, the moon will block Venus from us.
Unfortunately, the occultation will not be visible from Singapore, according to in-the-sky.org.
A close conjunction will however be more widely visible from here, with the duo apparent till 9.26pm.
NASA said on Thursday (23 Mar), which would be Friday (24 Mar) in Singapore, that the moon would be a “beautifully slim crescent” hanging just below “blazing bright” Venus.
The next night, the moon will hang above Venus, they added.
Netizens share photos of phenomenon
Many Singaporeans caught photos of the phenomenon from their homes, hovering above flats.
Source: June Tan on Facebook
One managed to snap a photo of it above an MRT station 30 minutes before the moonset.
Source: Kannan A by way of Earthsky.org
Another netizen also shared a photo of the moon and Venus over the Marina Bay Sands.
Source: Jer Jong on Facebook
The sighting was also apparent to those at the beach in the early evening.
Source: Martin Abbugao on Facebook
One stargazer even recorded a timelapse video of the moon and Venus moving behind clouds together.
Source: Haihong Zhang on Facebook
A breathtaking sight
Celestial phenomenons like these never fail to take our breath away.
Did you manage to catch a glimpse of the Moon-Venus conjunction tonight?
If you did, do share your photos with us in the comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Mohd Iszzuan on Facebook and Jer Jong on Facebook.
