The lunar occultation of Venus is a natural phenomenon in which the Moon passes in front of Venus, obstructing it from view on some regions of the Earth.
On 14 September 2026, this happened in some regions in India but not in Uttarakhand, where the very thin waxing crescent moon passed close to Venus in the western evening sky. Venus was exceptionally bright and was visible just after sunset.
This photograph has captured the Waxing crescent Moon + Venus (the Evening Star). Venus is so bright that it has a little halo, while the Moon’s illuminated crescent is beautifully resolved.
The very thin crescent Moon and Venus were extraordinarily close. Astronomical sources give their closest approach on September 14 at about 11:34 UTC (5:04 pm IST), at only about 0.47° apart. By 6:45 pm when this photograph was taken, they had separated somewhat, but were still very close.
This picture details some of the features seen on the moon.
1. Mare Crisium: the large, relatively smooth dark area. It is an enormous impact basin about 556 km across, subsequently flooded with ancient basaltic lava. It is one of the easiest lunar features to recognize in a crescent Moon.
2. Langrenus: the very prominent crater near it. Langrenus is about 132 km in diameter. It has substantial terraced walls and a central mountain peak. It is particularly conspicuous when the Sun is low across the crater.
3. Petavius: lower down toward the southern part of the crescent. Petavius is about 184 km across. It is especially interesting because it has a prominent central mountain complex and a large rille running across its floor.