Post by Centaur on Jul 14, 2005 14:38:22 GMT -6
A poster at astromart.com asked someone to verify whether the Moon would occult Comet Tempel 1 on 2006 Jul 15. I performed some calculations with my self-written software. It appears the event will indeed take place. However, it seems the only nighttime opportunities will occur over the western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. Unless you're on a ship already close to that region, you're out of luck.
For Manila I predict immersion of the comet behind the dark portion of the Moon at 18:52 UT+8 with the Sun still 1° above the horizon. Emersion from the Moon's lighted portion should occur at 19:23 with the Sun 13° beneath the horizon.
Due to the dimness of the comet and lack of good viewing locations, I doubt we will be getting many reports of occultation observations.
I hope that those of you in the southern US have clear skies for the occultation of the bright star Antares by the Moon on Sunday night. For those of us in Chicago the Moon will miss the star by 1/8 of its diameter at 23:43 CDT.
For Manila I predict immersion of the comet behind the dark portion of the Moon at 18:52 UT+8 with the Sun still 1° above the horizon. Emersion from the Moon's lighted portion should occur at 19:23 with the Sun 13° beneath the horizon.
Due to the dimness of the comet and lack of good viewing locations, I doubt we will be getting many reports of occultation observations.
I hope that those of you in the southern US have clear skies for the occultation of the bright star Antares by the Moon on Sunday night. For those of us in Chicago the Moon will miss the star by 1/8 of its diameter at 23:43 CDT.
