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Community photo entitled Venus after occultation by the Moon by Roberto Ortu on 09/14/2026 at Cabras, Sardinia, Italy

Venus after occultation by the Moon

On 09/14/2026 12:50 pm by Roberto Ortu | Website | Cabras, Sardinia, Italy

Yesterday our natural satellite occulted Venus, the second planet in order of distance from the Sun. The phenomenon was visible in broad daylight and began shortly before 11:30 and ended at 12:35, with the planet once again observable and very close to our satellite in increasing phase. I observed the planet's exit from the lunar limb through a telescope and shortly thereafter mounted the camera to try to image the two celestial bodies moving prospectively away. I had some difficulty aiming the Moon, still low on the horizon at that time, and then in focus before shooting due to the very visible turbulence. It wasn't exactly easy, but I had a lot of fun and the emergence of Venus from the lunar limb was truly spectacular!
I'm sharing this photo from the video showing part of the Moon, on the left, and Venus brighter and already sickle-shaped, which will be increasingly thinner until next month's lower conjunction.

Celestron 114/910 Newtonian Telescope
Mount Eq2 Sky-Watcher
Planetary Camera QHY5L-II-C
UV/IR cut filter

Firecapture 2.7 for a 1-minute, 50-seconds video at 15 fps, PIPP for video debayering and frame extraction.