The nearly Half Moon will occult (cover) the magnitude +0.9 star Aldebaran for North American observers during the evening of Saturday 2017 MAR 04. As with solar eclipses, occultations are limited to specific zones on Earth.
Aldebaran is one of four first magnitude stars that can be occulted. The current series of 49 Aldebaran occultations commenced on 2015 JAN 29 and will conclude on 2018 SEP 02. The following series will commence on 2033 AUG 18.
Immersion this time will occur on the lunar dark limb and emersion on the bright limb. An observer on a graze path will witness the star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Anyone between the graze paths will see a full occultation.
I’ve created a North American graze map, a preview graphic with data for Chicago, and a set of Besselian elements for input to a computer program. 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 a specific occultation or graze prediction for your location, please reply to this post with your longitude, latitude, elevation and time zone.
Aldebaran is one of four first magnitude stars that can be occulted. The current series of 49 Aldebaran occultations commenced on 2015 JAN 29 and will conclude on 2018 SEP 02. The following series will commence on 2033 AUG 18.
Immersion this time will occur on the lunar dark limb and emersion on the bright limb. An observer on a graze path will witness the star winking on and off as lunar hills and valleys pass by. Anyone between the graze paths will see a full occultation.
I’ve created a North American graze map, a preview graphic with data for Chicago, and a set of Besselian elements for input to a computer program. 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 a specific occultation or graze prediction for your location, please reply to this post with your longitude, latitude, elevation and time zone.
