The moon looks quite close to venus at the moment. Does the moon ever eclipse venus?
The Moon eclipses Venus regularly, although it’s called an “occultation”. Technically a solar eclipse is also an occultation. An occultation is when an object passes in front of another object; an eclipse is when an object falls in the shadow of another object. As with solar eclipses, occultations by the Moon are visible over only part of the Earth. The close conjunction of Venus and the Moon yesterday wasn’t close enough for the Moon to occult Venus anywhere on Earth, but next month on June 18 the Moon will occult Venus as seen from western Asia, most of Europe, parts of Greenland and northern Canada. The Moon also occults many all the planets and many stars in its path around the Earth. It’s also possible for planets and asteroids to occult stars; I’ve observed three occultations of stars by asteroids over the last few years. A lunar occultation can last anywhere from a few seconds (a grazing occultation) to about an hour, depending on where the object passes behind the Moon.
