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CentaurZ

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Everything posted by CentaurZ

  1. Below is my overhead chart. The Earth's orbital plane coincides with the plane of the chart, but the comet's orbital plane is inclined by 74˚.
  2. Moderator, please delete. My submission was taken years ago.
  3. The graze line shows locations where the center of Venus will be momentarily on the lunar limb. Below is my data for your location regarding the center of Venus relative to the Moon. It appears as though the Moon will just barely cover all of Venus for you. Your observational report would be appreciated.
  4. A waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) magnitude -4.3 Venus during the morning of 2023 NOV 09. This will be a nighttime event for observers in Greenland, and a daytime event for Europeans. This can be viewed by telescope, binoculars or even sharp naked eyes during the daytime, but take care to avoid looking at the Sun. The immersion will occur on the lunar bright limb, with emersion from the dark limb. Lucky observers on the graze path can witness the planet passing through lunar hills and valleys. Those north of the only graze path will see a full occultation. I’ve created a graze map and a preview graphic with data for observers in London, England They can be seen below. Photos and descriptions of the occultation would be welcome additions to this thread. If you would like specific occultation or graze predictions for your location, please reply to this post with your longitude, latitude, elevation and time zone.
  5. A waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) magnitude -4.3 Venus during the morning of 2023 NOV 09. This will be a nighttime event for observers in Greenland, and a daytime event for Europeans. This can be viewed by telescope, binoculars or even sharp naked eyes during the daytime, but take care to avoid looking at the Sun. The immersion will occur on the lunar bright limb, with emersion from the dark limb. Lucky observers on the graze path can witness the planet passing through lunar hills and valleys. Those north of the only graze path will see a full occultation. I’ve created a graze map and a preview graphic with data for observers in London, England They can be seen below. Photos and descriptions of the occultation would be welcome additions to this thread. If you would like specific occultation or graze predictions for your location, please reply to this post with your longitude, latitude, elevation and time zone.
  6. Here are my graze map of the occultation and predictions for London:
  7. A Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur during the night of 2023 OCT 28-29 for observers throughout Eurasia and Africa, including the British Isles. Below is my preview graphic for the upcoming eclipse as seen against an imaginary blue wall to make the shadow fully apparent. The predicted event timings are in BST (UT+1), but will occur at essentially the same real time for all observers experiencing nighttime if adjusted for time zones. The depicted orientation and Moon altitudes are for an observer in London, England. Photos and descriptions of the eclipse would be welcome additions to my similar thread in the forum for Observing-Lunar.
  8. A Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur during the night of 2023 OCT 28-29 for observers throughout Eurasia and Africa, including the British Isles. Below is my preview graphic for the upcoming eclipse as seen against an imaginary blue wall to make the shadow fully apparent. The predicted event timings are in BST (UT+1), but will occur at essentially the same real time for all observers experiencing nighttime if adjusted for time zones. The depicted orientation and Moon altitudes are for an observer in London, England. Photos and descriptions of the eclipse would be welcome additions to this thread.
  9. Here's my crude attempt at a pinhole camera image of the partial eclipse at maximum from my location.
  10. An annular solar eclipse will be visible throughout a swath of North America on 2023 OCT 14. Observers in a much wider portion of the continent will be able to witness a partial solar eclipse. Take extra-special precautions to protect your eyes, or preferably watch simulcasts online. Below are my renderings of the eclipse for Albuquerque, San Antonio, and Chicago.
  11. Here's my ephemeris for Nishimura. The data are decimalized to ease interpolation. The magnitude predictions have been calculated from current JPL parameters. They are often conservative, and better estimates may be supplied by observers.
  12. Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is currently at magnitude +9.3. Based on JPL parameters, it might peak at magnitude +5.4 when it reaches perihelion at 0.2252 AU on 2023 SEP 17. The comet will pass 0.8378 AU from Earth on 2023 Sep 12. It was discovered 2023 AUG 11 by H. Nishimura in Japan.
  13. The explanations have been great, so I can add very little. There are also miniscule true librations of only a few minutes in lunar latitude and longitude. Often writers refer to the Moon's elliptical orbit as the cause of certain things. Actually, they are due to the Moon's eccentric (Earth off-center) orbit. The Moon's orbit is close to being circular; the ellipticity is hardly noticeable in a diagram, but the eccentricity is obvious. The two "e" terms are related non-linearly mathematically, but I won't get into that since it's not the point. here. Below is my rendition of the Moon's upcoming librations beginning each night at 00 Hr CDT (UT-5). It does not consider the 1˚ diurnal librations which would be different for each location on Earth. Below that is my rendition of the lunar orbit.
  14. It's not so much a spike, simply an immediate reversal point. For other planets the magnitude topping is a smooth curving graph. Here's my graph of Saturn's magnitude.
  15. You're welcome. See my chart below. Your assumption is correct. The next actual "edge on" will be on 2025 MAR 23, although Saturn will be in the predawn eastern sky only 10˚ west of the Sun. The 2039 APR 02 image below is for the central "edge on" event during that apparition. Due to apparent retrograde motion, 2038 OCT 15 and 2039 JUL 09 will also be "edge on" dates.
  16. Ringed Saturn currently rises around sunset and achieves opposition from the Sun on 2023 AUG 27, when it is out all night at stellar magnitude +0.4. Its rings will appear tilted at +9.0°. At the time of its opposition, Saturn’s brightness peaks abruptly, unlike the gentle brightness curve for other planets. This sharp “oppositional flash” is due to a lack of a visible shadow of its rings on the planet, and the lack of ring particle shadows visible on each other, as viewed from Earth. Photos and descriptions of Saturn and its rings would be welcome additions to this thread.
  17. Brilliant Venus has commenced its apparition in the predawn eastern sky following its inferior conjunction between Earth and Sun on 2023 AUG 13. It will become its brightest on SEP 19, and climb higher before sunrise into late October. Photos and descriptions of Venus during this apparition would be welcome additions to this thread.
  18. A waxing gibbous Moon will occult (cover) magnitude +0.9 star Antares in Scorpius for observers in much of North America during the evening of 2023 AUG 24. This is the start of a new monthly series that will last until August 2028. The previous series was in 2005-2010. As always, each occultation will only be observable in a specifically defined region. This month’s immersion will occur on the lunar dark limb, with emersion from the bright limb. Lucky observers on the graze path can witness the star passing through lunar hills and valleys. Those north of the only graze path will see a full occultation. Photos and descriptions of the occultation would be welcome additions to this thread. If you would like specific occultation or graze predictions for your location, please reply to this post with your longitude, latitude, elevation and time zone. Below is my graze map for the event.
  19. See my previous post for a detailed answer. The monthly regions of Antares occultation visibility will hop around the globe, but will almost always miss the UK. My list to which you are referring is for the whole world and not just North America. It can be seen below.
  20. Indeed, on that date in Europe the Antares occultation should be visible by telescope in daylight. On 2028 JUL 04, the immersion of quite low Antares may be barely visible from Britain but not Germany. The region of each monthly occultation shifts about a third of the way westward around the globe. During the first half the series it will keep shifting southward, then head back northward during the second half. Below are my North American graze map and a Chicago data chart for the upcoming occultation,
  21. The magnitude +0.9 star Antares in Scorpius was last occulted (covered) by the Moon during 2005-2010. The next series will commence on 2023 AUG 25 and conclude on 2028 AUG 27. The long absence is due to the 18.6-year nodal cycle of the Moon’s orbital plane relative to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane). The lunar orbital plane is inclined by 5.15˚ to the ecliptic, and Antares lies 4.57˚ south of the ecliptic. It is only during that period of the nodal cycle in which the southern portion of the lunar orbital plane is in the vicinity of Antares that Antares occultations are possible. As always, each occultation will only be observable in a specifically defined region. The initial and final portion of the series will only be visible by folks in the northern hemisphere. The long central portion will be seen by those in the south. Your photos and descriptions of Antares occultations would be welcome additions to this thread.
  22. Asteroid 8 Flora will appear within Aquarius in ecliptical opposition to the Sun on 2023 AUG 26 at magnitude +8.4. Flora is the innermost large asteroid. It has a mean diameter of 128 km, and was discovered in 1847. Photos and descriptions of Flora would be welcome additions to this thread.
  23. Near-Earth Asteroid 433 Eros will appear within Aquarius in ecliptical opposition to the Sun on 2023 AUG 12 at magnitude +11.1. Unfortunately, this will be one of its more distant oppositions at 0.75 AU. In 1975 and again in 2056 the separation is 0.15 AU. Photos and descriptions of Eros would be welcome additions to this thread.
  24. The first really good night of the series for Sydney, Australia observers will be during the early morning hours of 2023 OCT 31. They should be able to witness nighttime occultation immersions and emersions of Alcyone, Atlas and Merope.
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