KARACHI: A view of planet Venus eclipsed by a thin crescent, seen against a bright street light here on Monday. The event, called occultation of Venus by the moon, occurs several times a year in one or another part of the earth. However, the phenomenon was seen in South Asia after several years, although most places in the Subcontinent saw only the disappearance phase of the event when Venus suddenly vanished behind the bright limb of the moon. According to Shahid Qureshi, head of the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics of the University of Karachi, the planet and the moon travel almost in the same plane and when they come in one line of sight the moon hides the planet. The phenomenon started at 8.59pm and lasted till 9.55pm. People in the Middle East and Europe had a better view of the event.
—Text by Hasan Mansoor, photo by Fahim Siddiqi