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[Total Solar Eclipse: 1983]
[Occultations and Transits] [Readers' Feedback (Eclipses)]
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Occultations and TransitsOccultations and transits seen by
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[Total Solar Eclipse: 1983]
[Occultations and Transits] [Readers' Feedback (Eclipses)]
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Occultations and TransitsOccultations and transits seen by
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The Moon can also occult planets. These occultations are even rarer.
Rarest of all is an occultation of a star by a planet and one planet occulting another.
| Date | Object |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 March 1974 | Saturn | Moon | Took 10s to disappear on Moon's dark edge. | Newcastle, UK |
| 5 November 2001 | Saturn | Moon | Full Moon - saw disappearance through binocculars. | Muswell Hill, London, UK |
| 23 February 2002 | Jupiter | Moon | Gibbous Moon - saw disappearance behind dark edge through binocculars - it faded slowly for 20s and vanished just before 03:00. Around 04:00 saw setting Moon with Jupiter very close. | Highbury, London, UK |
| 16 April 2002 | Saturn | Moon | Crescent Moon. Saw the two close together before and saw appearance through binocculars and telescope (saw Saturn's rings and Moon's craters). | Highbury, London, UK |
Transits of Mercury occur about 13 times per century; 9 in November and 4 in May. The transit is not visible to the naked eye and must be viewed by projection.
Transits of Venus only occur in June and December. A pair of transits is separated by 8 years but each pair occurs after 105 or 121 years. A transit of Venus can be seen with the naked eye if a filter is used. They are so rare that none occurred in the 20th Century.
| Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2003 | Mercury | After sunrise - observed it by projection from 07:30 to 11:29 (3rd Contact). | Hackney, London, UK |
| 8 June 2004 | Venus | Observed it by projection, eclipse glasses (naked eye) and through a large telescope from 06:19 to 12:23. | Alexandra Palace, London, UK |