Lunar Occultation tonight

[kerrylewis]

I note that there is an occultation tonight of a reasonably bright star around 20.00. Always fun to watch - and could be clear here 

[knobby]

Cheers Kerry... Bins at the ready then!

[Cath]

HIP thirty-fiiiiive thirty-fiiiiiive ooohhhh

It's snowing here at the moment in Shropshire .. it was earlier too.

[kerrylewis]

Cath 

Its not  a HIP ref (if that's what you are saying) Lambda Gem - Mag 3.6 

[Cath]

Its not  a HIP ref (if that's what you are saying) Lambda Gem - Mag 3.6 

oh!! ... my bad.

I had a look on Stellarium and it showed a brightish star (HIP 35350) as nipping behind the Moon at around 20:00 tonite.

Which Star is it I wonder?

[kerrylewis]

It's labelled Lambda Gem! 

[Cath]

It's labelled Lambda Gem! 

OK, now ur just trying to confoose me lol

Stellarium does say the Star is Lambda Gem, otherise known as 54 Gem, otherwise know as HIP 35350 ?

[kerrylewis]

Ok - it's just for the brighter ones the Greek letter designations tend to take precedence.

But, in essence, we are both right! 

The main thing is that it will blink out behind the dark leading edge of the moon  - but sorry about your weather. Clear as a bell here

[Cath]

Ok - it's just for the brighter ones the Greek letter designations tend to take precedence.

ah! .. you learn something new every day

Even if the sky was to clear tonite, I'm a carer these days, so my night time viewings have now all but stopped for the forseeable future.

Such is life.

[kerrylewis]

Such is life indeed - there will always be another time ......

[knobby]

If you're out now Jupiter is directly above the moon... Looks pretty neat

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Kerry for the heads up. I bought some 20x80 binos at Astrofest on Saturday so will use them tonight to view the occultation.

[kerrylewis]

Lovely view of Jupiter and the moon just now through the ED100 but I may have been a tad optimistic about the skies - cloud is creeping in now. But it may be gone later

[Stu]

Seems like it has quite a few designations.......

Shame, I'm busy tonight :-(

Stu

[kerrylewis]

And it's a double! At the moment I can see the moon through the cloud but ain't going to be seeing no mag3.6 unless it clears very soon. Ah well......

[maxheadroom]

What's a luna occultation?

Is it a star going behind the moon?

[Mark at Beaufort]

Max the Moon will pass over the star blocking it out. Because the Moon has no atmosphere you should be able to see the star right up to the limb.

[maxheadroom]

Max the Moon will pass over the star blocking it out. Because the Moon has no atmosphere you should be able to see the star right up to the limb.

Ah cool thanks, every days a school day. I'm all ready but the cloud found out and spoilt the party. Covered in hope that it passes. 15 minutes to go!

[Beulah]

Thanks for the heads up, I might pop out in a minute.

Cath, I just love that firey arrow in the screenshot....

[Rustysplit]

Oh Yeah!! Just caught this. Very odd how the star looks quite large when it is some distance away from the lunar limb, then as it nears occultation, the whole scale of the view changes. The star suddenly seems very small and the lunar landscape takes over. Very nice indeed. I was using an 8mm Radian in my 14" dob, giving 225X mag.

[Rustysplit]

It does not dim as it nears the limb. It just "pops out" suddenly.

[Beulah]

It does not dim as it nears the limb. It just "pops out" suddenly.

Yes it does! I saw one a couple of years ago. Missed the occultation this time as I was trying to finish off a project for work. I feel sad to have missed it.

[maxheadroom]

I could see the star dimly through the cloud and then a blizzard stopped play. Gutted but I know when I'm beaten

[kerrylewis]

Damp squib here. Clouds cleared just too late. But then rewarded with some fine views of Jupiter and Europa emerging from eclipse.

[cotterless45]

After frost, heavy rain, sleet, snow and bright sunshine things looked up for an hour or so . M82 SN and Jupiter with a touch of F in the Trapezium.

Might be a few more moonlit gaps, hurrah !

Nick.