Venus joins Moon for a cosmic date as Earth watches. See pics here

Venus and the crescent Moon created a celestial spectacle on September 14, with the occultation visible from parts of India. Here's how it happened and when the next one is.Moon and Venus occultation as captured from the Coorg observatory telescope. (Photo: Starscape)The Moon and Venus put on a celestial show on the intervening night of September 14-15, as the bright planet appeared to slip behind the crescent Moon.The event was a lunar occultation, which happens when the Moon passes directly in front of a more distant object from our viewpoint on Earth, temporarily hiding it from sight. Moon and Venus occultation as captured in Anini, Arunachal Pradesh. (Photo: Starscape) The Moon was only about 12% illuminated, leaving a slender crescent in the sky, while Venus shone brightly nearby.The two celestial objects only appeared close together from Earth, despite being separated by enormous distances in space. A RARE VIEW FROM INDIAThe occultation was visible from parts of Asia, including India, although the exact experience depended heavily on location and the time of day.In Kolkata, for example, Venus disappeared behind the Moon at about 6:00 pm IST and reappeared around 6:20 pm IST. In parts of Kerala, the event was visible around dusk, with Venus disappearing at roughly 5:20 pm and emerging again around 6:45 pm.The timing is a prominent part of this celestial phenomenon. In this particular event, much of the actual occultation occurred during daylight, making it difficult to observe without suitable equipment.As the Sun set, however, Venus and the crescent Moon became an eye-catching pair low in the western sky. The occultation between Venus and the Moon is seen during a sunset. (Photo: X/@guyfromhills) WHY DID VENUS HIDE BEHIND THE MOON?The Moon is much closer to Earth than Venus. Because of that fact, its position against the background sky changes noticeably as seen from different places on Earth.That is why an occultation can be visible from one region while people elsewhere see only a close encounter between the Moon and Venus.The September event left many in awe because Venus, a planet anyway exceptionally bright, was shining at about magnitude -4.4, making it one of the easiest planets to spot in the evening sky.The event also showed why these alignments are not as common as they might seem.The Moon passes through the same general region of the sky every month, but its path does not line up precisely with Venus each time. Moon and Venus are seen during the occultation in the sky during the day hours. (Photo: Nasa/Arnaud Mariat) Nasa has confirmed that the next Venus occultation of 2026 will occur on November 7 and will be visible from southern South America, but not from India.For Indian skywatchers, therefore, September 14 offered a memorable and rare celestial hide-and-seek involving a slender Moon briefly getting in the way of one of the brightest planets in our sky.- EndsPublished On: Sep 15, 2026 12:49 IST