Centaur
2017-Dec-23, 06:13 PM
The waxing gibbous Moon will occult (cover) the first magnitude star Aldebaran in Taurus for observers in Europe and North America during the night of 2017 DEC 30-31. This will be a predawn event for Europe, an evening event for eastern North America including Chicagoland, and an afternoon event for western North America.
The current series of 49 monthly Aldebaran occultations extends from 2015 JAN 29 to 2018 SEP 03. However this will be the last one in this series visible from Chicagoland and most of North America. The next series will commence on 2033 AUG 18.
Immersion will occur on the lunar dark limb and emersion on the bright limb. An observer on the only graze path will witness the star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Those north of the graze path will see a full occultation.
I’ve created a graze map, a set of Besselian elements for computer input, and preview graphics with data for Chicago. They can be seen by visiting my Occultations webpage at www.CurtRenz.com/occultations.html
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.
The current series of 49 monthly Aldebaran occultations extends from 2015 JAN 29 to 2018 SEP 03. However this will be the last one in this series visible from Chicagoland and most of North America. The next series will commence on 2033 AUG 18.
Immersion will occur on the lunar dark limb and emersion on the bright limb. An observer on the only graze path will witness the star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Those north of the graze path will see a full occultation.
I’ve created a graze map, a set of Besselian elements for computer input, and preview graphics with data for Chicago. They can be seen by visiting my Occultations webpage at www.CurtRenz.com/occultations.html
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.