On June 17, 2026, some people in parts of the Americas may get to see Venus do a sky “hide-and-seek” trick. Venus can seem to disappear behind the Moon and then pop back into view. This kind of event is called an occultation, which means one space object passes in front of another from where you’re standing.
A helpful way to picture it is the story’s cookie example: if you hold a cookie up close to your eye, it can block a lamp across the room. The lamp didn’t turn off—the cookie simply moved in front of it. In the sky, the Moon is like the cookie, and bright Venus is like the lamp.
Not everyone on Earth will see the occultation because the Moon is much closer to us than Venus. That means the Moon’s position in the sky looks a little different depending on where you are—so it blocks Venus for some viewers, but not for others.
This story also includes an important safety reminder: in many places the event happens during daylight. Daytime sky-watching takes extra care—never look at the Sun, and never point binoculars or a telescope into the daytime sky unless a grown-up is using certified solar filters.
A helpful way to picture it is the story’s cookie example: if you hold a cookie up close to your eye, it can block a lamp across the room. The lamp didn’t turn off—the cookie simply moved in front of it. In the sky, the Moon is like the cookie, and bright Venus is like the lamp.
Not everyone on Earth will see the occultation because the Moon is much closer to us than Venus. That means the Moon’s position in the sky looks a little different depending on where you are—so it blocks Venus for some viewers, but not for others.
This story also includes an important safety reminder: in many places the event happens during daylight. Daytime sky-watching takes extra care—never look at the Sun, and never point binoculars or a telescope into the daytime sky unless a grown-up is using certified solar filters.