Venus Disappears behind the Moon (Metro Manila, Philippines, May 16, 2010, 7:36 PM.)

The sky was clear and the air still. Just after sunset on the 16th of May in the Philippines and elsewhere, people saw something beautiful in the sky. It was the setting crescent Moon with Venus just above the darkened part of the lunar disk. Not everyone knew it was coming, but it was really a spectacle that was hard to miss. "Beautiful!" People said, and they took photographs with their cell phones. The next day, the event was the main story featured on Yahoo!.

Yes, Venus and the Moon together was a beautiful sight. Venus is actually on the opposite side of the Sun and it's position relative to the moon the that day made for an astronomy spectacle for everyone. But after looking at the two together for a while and taking photographs, most people went on their way. Little did they know that if they had waited a bit longer, they would have witnessed Venus move closer to the Moon and wink out as it is finally fully obscured by the lunar disk in what is called, by the way, a lunar occultation.

For those who didn't realize that the Moon would cover Venus, well, it happened at 7:36 pm. If they had waited, they would have seen Venus move closer to the lunar disk's edge and slowly weaken in brightness until it gets "snuffed out" like a candle - but we all know that it's just behind the Moon!

Superstitious people have asked the significance of such an alignment of the Moon and Venus. But really, there's nothing to it from the scientific point of view. It's just one object blocking the view of another in space. But historically, the "crescent Moon and star" is a recurring symbol in the Islamic world since ancient times and the motif appears in several Islamic country flags (left).

As early as the 14th century B.C., the crescent and star symbol was already associated with the Moabites of the book of Genesis in the Bible. It was also a part of Sumerian iconography with the crescent representing the Moon god Sin, and the star representing the goddess of fertility, Ishtar.

It really pays to look at the sky sometimes even when you're not expecting anything to see or happen. You might get lucky like the hundreds of people who saw Venus and the Moon together. Luckier were the ones who waited to see Venus get covered up by the Moon and then appear again later at the other side. It would have taken a lot of patience, though!

The pictures here were taken by this writer with a cellphone camera, thus, there is slight image elongation. The photo on top shows Venus as it nears the lunar disk. The smaller one at the left shows Venus just before it hid behind the Moon.The orange blur at the top left corner is a plane that has just left the airport.

See more spectacular photos and videos of the May 16, 2010 lunar occultation of Venus over the Philippines in Erica Valdueza's The Sky Above.

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If You Find a Meteorite, Can You Really Claim It?

Astronomers, amateur and professionals alike, always dream of finding a meteorite. It's even more exciting if the meteorite is found just after it hits. Consider yourself very lucky if the meteorite falls somewhere near you and you get to retrieve it while it's fresh. But does finding and simply picking up a meteorite make it your own? Can you lay claim to it without anybody else contesting the legitimacy of your ownership?

The answer to both is yes... that is... if you, the one who found the meteorite, is also the owner of the land it slammed into. This means that if you found a meteorite on someone else's property, the landowner has the right to claim the object as his, never mind if it journeyed for millions of years in space before hitting dirt. While laws in different places may differ, it just shows that picking a meteorite up from the ground does not automatically make it yours.

Meteorites can fetch a lot of money, especially for specimens that cause a ruckus and are found right after impacting. These meteorites become popular and when broken in pieces, it can make a lot of money for the owner. Apart from museums and research institutions, collectors worldwide are willing to pay big for really good and popular specimens. Meteorites are like long lost treasures. But while the founder of lost treasures generally get a share of the bounty along with the owner of the land and the government, meteorites pose questions that require the services of good lawyers.

Just consider what happened at Williamsburg Square, in Lorton Virginia, USA in January 2009. A meteorite (top and left) crashed through the roof of a building and into a doctors' office. One doctor thought that a bookshelf had fallen on his partner after he heard a boom. But it turned out, a mango-sized meteorite was responsible for the explosion. It hit with such force that it embedded pieces of ceiling tiles into the floor, going through the carpet. The doctors were thankful the meteorite didn't hit any of them because it fell on a spot where they usually sit. The doctors placed the meteorite fragments in a box and sent them to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History where it was confirmed as a meteorite by scientist Cari Corrigan. She said it was likely traveling at 350kph when it hit.

You'd think that the Lorton meteorite has found it's final resting place in the Smithsonian? but no, the owner of the building it crashed into has laid claim to the space rock. The Smithsonian says it will hold on to the meteorite until ownership is resolved. It's up to history to say where the rock will end up.

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