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UAE astronomers spotted Venus crescent in daylight; here's how the planet was sighted
The astronomers at the Abu Dhabi observatory captured the phenomenon through a gap between the clouds
- PUBLISHED: Tue 25 Mar 2025, 11:41 AM
- By:
- Web Desk
On March 23, UAE astronomers captured a striking sighting of Venus in its crescent phase. Much like the Moon, Venus also appears in different phases—ranging from a new moon-like appearance to a crescent, quarter, gibbous, or even a nearly full phase.
The surface conjunction of Venus, as observed from the UAE, took place at 9.18am of March 23. This phenomenon occurs when celestial objects appear closer from the observer's viewpoint, despite being vast distances apart in reality. Watch the video here:
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Venus is typically positioned between Earth and the Sun, often appearing as a small black dot when it transits across the Sun's surface. However, due to the tilt of its orbit, Venus was 8.4 degrees away from the Sun, and appeared as a thin crescent.
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The phenomenon was captured by Al Khatem Astronomical Observatory in Abu Dhabi. The observatory used a 14-inch telescope.
The astronomers captured the crescent through a gap between the clouds. With cloudy weather posing a significant challenge, the observatory's 14-inch telescope was able to capture the phenomenon for a few minutes.
Earlier, this year, a planet parade took over the skies, with four planets including Venus, being visible to the naked eye, and two planets – Uranus and Neptune – visible only with a telescope.
