"This eclipsing of Venus by moon is called occultation, similar to what happens in solar eclipses (when the moon covers the sun)," explained Zaki A. Al-Mostafa, assistant director of the university’s National Astronomy Center in Riyadh, on Wednesday.Discussing the partial solar eclipse to be seen on Friday, Al-Mostafa said it would begin at 10.57 a.m. and end at 12.22 p.m.He, however, said "it was an important eclipse from the point of view of astronomical calculations."The KACST scientist said that this partial solar eclipse would be seen in the southern hemisphere, including the Antarctic Ocean.He pointed out that the next solar eclipse would occur on Nov. 25 and the next lunar eclipse will be seen from Saudi Arabia on Dec. 10 this year."These are interesting eclipses from an astronomical point of view," said Al-Mostafa."This (July 1) is the third solar eclipse this year," he added. Solar eclipses only occur during the new moon, when the moon passes between the sun and earth and the moon's shadow sweeps across a portion of earth's surface and an eclipse of the sun is seen from that region.Two to five solar eclipses occur a year, but the ground covered by totality is only a band of about 30 miles wide, the length being that portion of the globe which is under the moon's shadow.Referring to the occultation on Thursday, a report said that the moon as seen from the earth would eclipse Venus.There have been many nighttime lunar occultation of Venus, but this time it is special as it is happening in broad daylight. The time of occultation will be on Thursday afternoon and it can be seen in some countries in the Middle East.It can be seen before sunrise in western Africa, while other countries will witness it during the day. The first location where the moon eclipses Venus will be Tripoli. It will be a great opportunity for amateurs to witness and capture the occultation in the day.It will take about 30 seconds for the planet to disappear completely behind the moon and the same time to reappear again. The event can be observed with a pair of binoculars.