Moon Occults Venus - N. America & E. Asia - Aug 13-14

[Centaur]

During the afternoon of 2012 AUG 13 the waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) a half lit Venus for many observers in North America. They may be visible by naked eye for those who know where to look, but optical aid would be helpful. Avoid looking at the Sun. For many East Asians it will be a predawn event on AUG 14.

I’ve created two graze maps, Besselian elements and a preview for Chicago. The graphics for those and my more detailed article can be found on my lunar webpage at: www.CurtRenz.com/moon

For your local immersion and emersion times, please reply to this thread with your longitude, latitude, altitude above sea level and time zone.

Photos and descriptions of the event would be welcome additions to this thread.

[LoneTree1941]

For your local immersion and emersion times, please reply to this thread with your longitude, latitude, altitude above sea level and time zone

(near Ellettsville, Indiana)
39.21N
86.59W
El-780'
Eastern TZ

[Centaur]

(near Ellettsville, Indiana)
39.21N
86.59W
El-780'
Eastern TZ

For your given location, LoneTree1941, I predict that the center of Venus' apparent disk will become immersed into the lunar limb at 16:40:54 EDT and then emerge at 17:34:50. Good luck with the weather!

[mapguy]

longitude, latitude, altitude above sea level and time zone.

Sounds cool - how about for Denver?
N 39.65309
W 104.91823
Elev. 5500'
Mountain TZ

Thanks for your alerts about events like this, and for all the data and research.

[Centaur]

Sounds cool - how about for Denver?
N 39.65309
W 104.91823
Elev. 5500'
Mountain TZ

Thanks for your alerts about events like this, and for all the data and research.

You're welcome, mapguy. For your given location, I predict that the center of Venus' apparent disk will become immersed into the lunar limb at 14:34:57 MDT and then emerge at 15:41:10.

[Centaur]

I've been asked why the majority of occultations of planets by the Moon seem to occur in the daytime. This is particularly true of the inferior planets Mercury and Venus. Since they are closer to the Sun than the Earth is, they never appear to stray far from the Sun as we view them. The vast majority of the time that one of them is above the horizon, so is the Sun. Hence a Mercury or Venus occultation is much more likely to occur during the daytime for observers at a particular location. Of course observers within a small zone on Earth will witness the same occultation during the nighttime. This all is also somewhat true for the other planets, but with an increased probability of nighttime occurrence.

[Buttercup]

I've been asked why the majority of occultations of planets by the Moon seem to occur in the daytime...

It's just our luck. ;-p

Or they occur at some hideous hour like 1:48 a.m. or 3:01 a.m.

[Centaur]

It's just our luck. ;-p

Or they occur at some hideous hour like 1:48 a.m. or 3:01 a.m.

I'll see what I can do about it.

[mapguy]

Early yesterday morning (Aug. 13), Venus was easily visible from here, fairly close to the waning crescent Moon. It was even easy to pick out after sunrise, since its position relative to the nearby Moon made it easier to spot. But by about 8:00 am, thick clouds had moved into the Denver area, and remained until well after the occultation. I couldn't see the Moon again, or Venus, or anything, for another 24 hours. By then, of course, the Moon had moved quite far to the opposite side of Venus. Disappointing. When's the next one?

[Centaur]

When's the next one?

We were shut out in Chicagoland too. I predict that the Moon will occult asteroid 1 Ceres during the early morning of 2012 SEP 09. I had planned to provide an alert here by early next month. A couple of my related graphics can be found at my Moon webpage now: www.CurtRenz.com/moon