OTHER PHENOMENA

by Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard

Venus and the Moon as seen from Oslo just before Venus disappears behind the Moon. Illustration: Institute of Theoretical Astrophycs, University of Oslo

Just before the historic transit of Venus also a few other interesting phenomena that involve Venus will take place. On May 21 the Moon will move in front of Venus. This occultation will take place in daylight, but is visible because both the Moon and Venus are quite bright objects.

It is possible to study the phenomenon in a small telescope, but one must be very aware of the Sun nearby - only 26 degrees away. The telescope must never be turned towards the Sun while someone are looking!! That will cause permanent eye damage. The occultation is possible to enjoy by being cautious. It will look different and come to different times when observed from different locations in Norway.

(times are given in daylight savings time)

Location	Venus disappear behind dark side of Moon	Venus reappear from bright side of the Moon
Oslo	13.38,4	14.32,2
Stavanger	13.32,4	14.25,9
Bergen	13.36,5	14.23,7
Trondheim	13.50,0	14.25,1
Brønnøysund	13.59,2	14.21,4
Saltfjellet at Polar circle	14.06,8	14.20,1
Saltfjellet at intersection E6-Rv 77 Junkerdalen	14.10,3	14.17,0
Bodø	Moon close to Venus, smallest distance about 0.2 degrees

On Saltfjellet at intersection E6-Rv 77 Junkerdalen the occultation is probably partial - only parts of Venus disappear behind the Moon.

The brightness of Venus will be -4,4, almost as much as Venus can reach. The altitude of Venus varies from 56 degrees in Oslo to 50 degrees in Bodø.
Source: The Norwegian Astronomical Association

Quicktime animation (230 kB) showing Venus disappearing behind the Moon and reappearing almost an hours later as viewed from Oslo. Animation: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

ALMOST SOLAR ECLIPSE

Between 5 and 7 am on May 19 the Moon almost block the Sun. If it had done that it would have given us a solar eclipse - almost a year after the great partial eclipse of May 31, 2003. The illustration shows how close we are an eclipse.

In the morning of May 19 there will almost be an eclipse. This is how close the Moon will be when viewed from Oslo, Norway. Illustration: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

The Moon misses the Sun with sufficiently large margin that there will not be an eclipse anywhere on the Earth. But a partial eclipse will take place a month earlier - on April 19. That will be visible in the Antarctica etc.

Quicktime animation (3.2 MB, duration 2 seconds) showing how the Moon miss the Sun with a small margin on May 19, 2004. Animation: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

Quicktime animation (16.3 MB, duration 15 seconds) showing how the Moon miss the Sun with a small margin on May 19, 2004. Higher time resolution than the animation above. Animation: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo

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