Heads up - Aldebaran occultation tomorrow - but daylight

[kerrylewis]

Tomorrow morning Aldebaran is due to be occulted by the moon at approx 7.40 BST. Although this is in daylight it should be visible in a reasonable scope. Prior to that the moon wanders through the Hyades and some occultations may be visible. Always assuming clear skies....

[Stub Mandrel]

Thanks for that! Got me confused with BST and GMT as Stellarium said it was an hour earlier here, not five minutes later which is correct once I got my times sorted out!

Unfortunately thick cloud forecast here after 1:00am (BST!)

[SilverAstro]

I've never thought to look for Aldebaran in daylight ! What constitutes a "reasonable scope" for this purpose ?

[kerrylewis]

14 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

I've never thought to look for Aldebaran in daylight ! What constitutes a "reasonable scope" for this purpose ?

Difficult to be sure but given a nice clear sky a good 4" refractor or larger should be OK. Normally it would be difficult to find Aldebaran in the daylight but with the moon as a guide it can be possible. given a good sky I will be trying with the 4" Bak. Nothing ventured etc...

[SilverAstro]

1 minute ago, kerrylewis said:

 a good 4" refractor or larger

Interesting, so aperture is good,,,  is refractor important ie. unobstructed ? reason I ask is I have a 9.25 sct, so no spider but does have central obstruction.

Thinks, have heard of an off-axis mask on newts to avoid spiders, never thought about use in SCT, (but I wouldnt get 4" clear dia though )

[kerrylewis]

I'd just give it a go with the SCT 

[MarsG76]

Nice find... I just looked it up and it happens late afternoon...  but it just narrowly misses the moon from Sydney. 

[kerrylewis]

No chance here. Thin cloud so could barely make out the moon. Shame because it was beautifully clear earlier and you could see the moon creeping towards Aldebaran. Maybe next time - these occultations have been reasonably frequent lately.