Moon Occults Jupiter - July 15

[Centaur]

During the early hours of 2012 JUL 15 the waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) Jupiter for many observers in Eurasia and North Africa. I’ve created a graze map, Besselian elements and a preview for London. The graphics for those and my more detailed article can be found on my lunar webpage at: www.CurtRenz.com/moon

[Perikles]

I was delighted to see that if I manage to be awake at the right time, here in Tenerife I'll be able to witness the event. I have reported it locally, and a friend asked me how rare the event is. My position as astronomical authority (in the country of the blind....) was severely undermined by my confession that I had no idea. But it must be very infrequent, surely?

[Centaur]

I was delighted to see that if I manage to be awake at the right time, here in Tenerife I'll be able to witness the event. I have reported it locally, and a friend asked me how rare the event is. My position as astronomical authority (in the country of the blind....) was severely undermined by my confession that I had no idea. But it must be very infrequent, surely?

I'm afraid, Perikles, that Tenerife is too far west for the Moon and Jupiter too have risen before the upcoming occultation has ended.

Occultations of Jupiter occur in series separated by about four years. Each series is of variable length and generally includes between four and ten monthly occultations. The current series includes ten events that began on 2012 JUN 17 and will conclude on 2013 FEB 18. The trick is to be within the band on Earth for which the occultation is visible. It is also beneficial to be on the nighttime portion of the Earth, although a daytime occultation of a bright planet or star can be seen with telescopic aid.

The next lunar occultation of Jupiter visible from Tenerife will be a daytime event occurring on 2026 OCT 06. For a nighttime occultation of Jupiter at your location you will have to wait until 2034 NOV 21. Sorry.

[Perikles]

Thanks for the reply and PM - I misunderstood the graze map. Ah well, it will be something to look forward to just after my 90th birthday......

[Centaur]

This won't help Perikles in Tenerife, but I've added a graze map for East Asia. For observers there it will be a daytime occultation, but should be visible with optical aid: www.CurtRenz.com/moon

[Centaur]

Tonight will be the night! Early Sunday morning for Europe.

The next planetary occultation visible from the northern hemisphere will be that of Venus on 2012 AUG 13-14. It will be a nighttime event for East Asia, and a daytime event for the North Pacific and North America. During the daytime brilliant Venus should be visible by naked eye near the Moon, if one knows exactly where to look, although a telescope or binoculars would be beneficial. I'll provide graphics and data early in August.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Couldn't see the occultation in Texas, but did happen to catch an awesome sight of the conjunction + Aldeberan + an ISS flyover that was about a handwidth away 0556 local CST.

[Ara Pacis]

I was wondering what all those lights were up in the sky this morning on the drive home.

[Centaur]

I was wondering what all those lights were up in the sky this morning on the drive home.

Other than the Moon, the planet Venus was the the most brilliant object in the grouping. Bright planet Jupiter and first magnitude star Aldebaran were supporting characters. The ISS would have been a momentary member for those in favored locations.

[ToSeek]

Some awesome imagery from the event: http://lpod.wikispaces.com/July+16%2C+2012

See also this thread in Astrophotography: http://cosmoquest.org/forum/showthre...er-Occultation

[Robert Tulip]

The moon passes in front of planets when they are near the lunar nodes, which are the points where the moon crosses the ecliptic plane. Long series can occur when the planet is retrograde, as the retrograde movement is at roughly the same pace as the movement of the lunar nodes. Looking at a rough chart for the next decade, it appears there will be Earth-Moon-Planet syzygies approximately as follows, following the current Jupiter retrograde period which Centaur has said goes to early 2013. The November 29 full moon conjunction with Jupiter should be a close run thing. I have not checked these against precise data.

Saturn: Feb-Oct 2013 (Full Moon 25 April - lunar eclipse?, Solar Eclipse 3 November?)
Mars: Feb-Mar, Aug 2014
Jupiter: November 2015-July 2016
Mars: June-September 2018
Saturn-Pluto: April-September 2019

These are rough dates just from visual inspection of ephemeral maps. As I understand it Jupiter tracks closer to the ecliptic than the others. I am surprised that Centaur says the current series has ten events as Jupiter retrograde will track about 20 degrees of arc away from the node.

[Buttercup]

I'd like to see more occultations than I've been able to over the years, but geez -- it seems 90% of them at least occur at some ungodly hour like 2:07 a.m. ;-p