Moon Occults Beehive Cluster - 2019 AUG 28

[CentaurZ]

The waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) stars in the Beehive (Praesepe – M44) Cluster for observers in portions of North America including Chicagoland during the predawn hours of Wednesday 2019 AUG 28. Epsilon Cancri is the brightest Beehive star at magnitude +6.3, which is barely in the range for naked eyes. The entire cluster of over a thousand stars appears as a nebulous object to naked eyes in dark skies. Of course, it is better seen with binoculars or a telescope.

The current series of 25 monthly Beehive occultations extends from 2018 MAY 20 to 2019 NOV 2019. However, the large majority are not visible at nighttime from any particular location. The next series will commence on 2026 JAN 05.

The upcoming immersions will occur on the lunar bright limb and emersions on the dark limb. Any observers on a graze path can witness a star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Those between the two paths will see a full occultation.

Photos and descriptions of the occultations 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.

Edited August 27, 2019 by CentaurZ