A Smiley Night Sky

An occultation occurs when a large celestial object like Venus passes in front of a small celestial object like our planet’s moon Luna. The mouth of the “smiley” is actually the crescent moon hovering directly between Venus, the eye, and Earth. According to scientists and science enthusiasts in Earth Sky, an online forum and blogging community, it is not unusual for the moon to appear to pass close to Venus since this happens about once a month, but the degree of closeness varies every month. The recent occultation had a significant closeness that's why it attracted a large audience. Nonetheless, the occurrence seen on May 16 (Sunday) is said to be rare because events like this are only visible for a very short period of time after sunset.

The sky display was observed in some parts of Southeast Asia including the Philippines a few hours after local sunset. This exceptional phenomenon last took place in Asia in June 2007, and the next one will reportedly be on June 30, 2011. Yet, no matter what the scientific explanations are for this picturesque exhibit, it will always be gratifying to gaze at not only a starry but also a smiley night sky.

Sources

http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/60311/youscoopers-send-photos-of-moon-venus-alignment
http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2010/05/17/the-moon-clips-venus.aspx
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/05/17/10/moon-venus-alignment-forms-smiley-face