Tonight (Saturday) observers in the lower United States will witness an occultation of the
bright star Aldebaran by the first-quarter Moon. A word of explanation;
the Moon will appear to pass between Earth and the star--in effect a
"stellar" eclipse. This is an impressive--and surprisingly tense--event
to watch with binoculars or telescope; through the eyepiece we will
watch as Aldebaran seems to crawl toward the dark limb of the Moon, hang
on the brink for what can seem like long minutes--and then blink
out suddenly as if a switch had been flipped! About forty minutes
later the star will reappear on the bright limb as our Moon continues
along its orbit.
Fun and easy to watch, occultations of bright stars are definitely worth staying up for--so watch a distant star vanish tonight, and report your observations and impressions below. Enjoy!
For more information on tonight's occultation...
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/aldebaran-occultation-march-4-2017/
Fun and easy to watch, occultations of bright stars are definitely worth staying up for--so watch a distant star vanish tonight, and report your observations and impressions below. Enjoy!
For more information on tonight's occultation...
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/aldebaran-occultation-march-4-2017/
No comments:
Post a Comment