Let’s get ready for one special day: The September 14thin the late morning, the moon will pass in front of the planet Venus, making it invisible to our eyes (the phenomenon is called occultation). While in the evening the two stars will give life to a suggestive conjunction which, with a clear sky, will be perfectly visible to the naked eye. Don’t miss it!
What is meant by occultation and what we will see on the morning of September 14, 2026
©Stellarium
Occultation is a phenomenon very similar to the eclipseas it occurs when one celestial object passes in front of another, temporarily hiding it from view. But, unlike the eclipse, in the occultation the “disappearing” object is not luminous, and, as NASA explainsha much smaller apparent size (apparent because it is what we see from Earth, which depends on the distance of the objects from us).
Occultation, by the way, is not just a suggestive visual phenomenon: it actually comes exploited in astronomical researchas they are potentially capable of providing valuable information on the size, shape and atmospheric properties of planets and other worlds (e.g. in 1977, the rings of Uranus were discovered by Kuiper Airborne Observatory of NASA just when the planet occulted a star).
As the UAI explains, the event in Italy will occur during the day, but, given the brightness of both stars, it will be possible observe it also with binoculars and telescopesavoiding pointing the instruments towards the Sun. In Rome the immersion of Venus will take place at 11:27 amWhile the emergence at 12.39pm (on the map the sky of September 14, 2026 at approximately 11.00shortly before the start of the event).
The Moon-Venus “kiss”.
©Stellarium
In the evening the two stars, now “separated”, will give life to one romantic conjunctionwhich, weather permitting, will be completely visible to the naked eye. Our satellite, in its growing phase, left the New phase a few days ago, although it is already sufficiently visible.
As the UAI explains, on the evening of 14 September, among the lights of twilight on the western horizon, the thin crescent of the crescent Moon accompanies the planet Venus towards sunset, in the constellation of Virgo (in the map the sky of September 14, 2026 at approximately 8.00 pm).
Source: UAI
