Hong Kong SAR, China, People’s Republic of China will usher in an astronomical phenomenon of “moon occultation of Venus” on March 24, 2023. Since the orbital plane of the moon is very close to the orbital planes of the planets, if the moon covers the planets in the sky, it is called a “lunar occultation planet”. In addition, Venus is the celestial body in the solar system that is second only to the sun and the moon in brightness, so “lunar occultation of Venus” is relatively easy to observe and has attracted a lot of attention from astronomy observers.
The “moon occultation of Venus” will start at 7:47 pm and end at 8:53 pm, lasting about one hour and six minutes. At the time of “occlusion”, the moon is located in the northwest about 18 degrees above the horizon. Since both are quite bright, they can be observed directly with the naked eye, and binoculars or astronomical telescopes will have a clearer observation effect. At the time of “occlusion”, the moon will move to a position only 3.8 degrees above the horizon, and observers need to go to a place with almost no obstruction in the northwest to observe it.
A lunar occultation of Venus will occur in Hong Kong at night on March 24 (Friday). The Moon will move between the Earth and Venus at that time. We will not be able to observe Venus as it will be blocked by the Moon temporarily at that time.
The coming “Lunar Occultation of Venus” will begin at 7:47 pm and end at 8:53 pm, which will last for about one hour and six minutes. Since the Moon and Venus are quite bright, they can be observed directly with the naked eye. Both objects will appear close to the horizon, observers need to find a place with an almost completely unobstructed view towards the northwestern horizon.
Since Venus always appears close to the Sun, the lunar occultation of Venus mostly happen in day time. The next lunar occultation of Venus observable in Hong Kong during night time will be on May 31, 2063.
Lunar Occultation of Venus Timeline- Hong Kong SAR- Beijing Time
| event | time | height (degrees) | Azimuth (degrees) |
| incision | 19:47:07 | 18 | 279 |
| cut in | 19:47:37 | 17.9 | 279 |
| Minimum angular distance between the moon and Venus | 20:20:53 | 10.6 | 282 |
| incision | 20:53:03 | 3.8 | 285 |
| excision | 20:53:30 | 3.7 | 285 |
The above predictions are based on the Hong Kong Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong as the reference point, and the occultation time may vary by tens of seconds in different places in Hong Kong.
The occultation begins near the east side of the Moon and ends near the west side. In fact, the visual motion of the Moon is much faster than that of Venus, but observations can also track the Moon to show the relative motion of Venus. Since Venus is located near the sun for a long time, lunar occultation of Venus generally occurs during the day. The next lunar occultation of Venus in the Hong Kong evening will be May 31, 2063.
Speaker: Mr. CHIU Kam-hung (Assistant Curator of the Hong Kong Space Museum)
Date: 24.3.2023 (Friday) Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm Language: Cantonese
本次天象資料 Information of the astronomical event
掩始外切 First contact: 19:47
掩始內切 Second contact: 19:47
月球、金星最小角距 Moon-Venus appulse: 20:20
掩終內切 Third contact: 20:53
掩終外切 Fourth contact: 20:53
香港於2023年3月24日的傍晚時份將會上演「月掩金星」，屆時月球會運行到地球和金星之間，並將金星短暫遮掩，令我們無法看到金星。
今次的「月掩金星」發生在晚上7時47分，結束時間為8時53分，歷時約一小時六分鐘。由於月球和金星都是天上最為明亮的天體，可以用肉眼直接觀賞，但兩者將較為接近地平線，觀測者需要到西北面幾乎亳無遮擋的地方才能觀測得到。
由於金星長期位處於太陽附近，故「月掩金星」普遍發生在日間，下一次可在香港晚間觀測月掩金星將會是2063年5月31日。
講者：趙錦鴻先生（香港太空館助理館長）
日期：2023年3月24日（星期五）
時間：晚上7:30–9:00
語言：粵語
Located in the Heart of Hong Kong central of Victoria Harbour in which locate looking at the iconic Megatroplis HongKong Island city landscape from the opposite is the Hong Kong Space Museum 香港太空館 in which located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China –People’s Republic of China.. in which is one of the most international iconic buildings architecturally due to its hemispheric round dome in which is iconic known as one of Hong Kong’s local most cherish bread pastries the Pineapple Bun – Bolo Bao due to the pineapple ceramic texturing tiles of the dome structure that resembles the delicious texturing of the Pineapple Bun .. In which on In June 2014, the Hong Kong Government listed the pineapple bun as a part of Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage. … Despite the name, it does not traditionally contain pineapple; rather, the name refers to the look of the characteristic topping (which resembles the texture of a pineapple)……