Post by Centaur on Dec 29, 2005 1:41:22 GMT -6
During the evening of Monday 2006 JAN 09 the Moon will occult some of the stars in the Pleiades cluster (M45) in Taurus for observers in much of North America. It should be a pretty sight. The apparent disk of the waxing gibbous Moon will be 82% illuminated. Therefore, occulted stars will disappear behind the Moon’s dark limb and reappear from its bright limb.
To see the graphics I’ve created previewing the occultation and presenting my North American graze map, click:
www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
For folks in the Chicago area, in a few days I will post local occultation data and upload a detailed Chicagoland map depicting the graze path of Pleione.
Observers located on a star’s graze path will see that star winking on and off as hills and valleys on the lunar limb pass by. A graze path is roughly as wide as the difference in elevation between the lunar topographic features, generally a couple of kilometers. Those observers located north of a star’s southern graze path and south of that star’s northern graze path will witness a full occultation. The distance between the two graze paths is at least as great as the diameter of the Moon, 3476 kilometers. In some cases only one of the graze paths exists, because the other would be in outer space above a polar region.
Among the 21 brightest Pleiades members, 10 will be occulted as viewed from North America when Cuba is included. No single observer will be located within sight of all 10 occultations.
The graze paths for each star are plotted on my North American map. The numerals on the map represent the Universal Time. Each path is labeled with a single yellow capital letter. “A” is the brightest star, “B” is next, etc. Following is the list of 10 stars. The stars’ apparent coordinates are for the date of the event (not 2000.0):
A RA 03:47:51.3 Dec N 24°07’35” Mag +2.9 Alcyone
B RA 03:49:31.9 Dec N 24°04’28” Mag +3.6 Atlas
C RA 03:45:14.7 Dec N 24°08’05” Mag +3.7 Electra
E RA 03:46:41.7 Dec N 23°58’11” Mag +4.2 Merope
G RA 03:49:33.4 Dec N 24°09’28” Mag +5.0 Pleione
I RA 03:48:42.9 Dec N 23°26’32” Mag +5.4 HD 23753
O RA 03:50:05.7 Dec N 23°43’58” Mag +6.2 HD 23923
P RA 03:57:48.7 Dec N 24°28’55” Mag +6.2 HD 24802
Q RA 03:47:43.2 Dec N 24°08’15” Mag +6.3 24 Tauri
T RA 03:49:19.1 Dec N 23°52’41” Mag +6.5 26 Tauri
Please reply within this thread to receive specific occultation or graze data for your location. I’ll need your Longitude, Latitude, Time Zone, approximate Altitude above sea level, and the name of the stars that interest you. If your desire is to find the latitude for a certain star’s graze point that matches a specific longitude, please say so.
To see the graphics I’ve created previewing the occultation and presenting my North American graze map, click:
www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
For folks in the Chicago area, in a few days I will post local occultation data and upload a detailed Chicagoland map depicting the graze path of Pleione.
Observers located on a star’s graze path will see that star winking on and off as hills and valleys on the lunar limb pass by. A graze path is roughly as wide as the difference in elevation between the lunar topographic features, generally a couple of kilometers. Those observers located north of a star’s southern graze path and south of that star’s northern graze path will witness a full occultation. The distance between the two graze paths is at least as great as the diameter of the Moon, 3476 kilometers. In some cases only one of the graze paths exists, because the other would be in outer space above a polar region.
Among the 21 brightest Pleiades members, 10 will be occulted as viewed from North America when Cuba is included. No single observer will be located within sight of all 10 occultations.
The graze paths for each star are plotted on my North American map. The numerals on the map represent the Universal Time. Each path is labeled with a single yellow capital letter. “A” is the brightest star, “B” is next, etc. Following is the list of 10 stars. The stars’ apparent coordinates are for the date of the event (not 2000.0):
A RA 03:47:51.3 Dec N 24°07’35” Mag +2.9 Alcyone
B RA 03:49:31.9 Dec N 24°04’28” Mag +3.6 Atlas
C RA 03:45:14.7 Dec N 24°08’05” Mag +3.7 Electra
E RA 03:46:41.7 Dec N 23°58’11” Mag +4.2 Merope
G RA 03:49:33.4 Dec N 24°09’28” Mag +5.0 Pleione
I RA 03:48:42.9 Dec N 23°26’32” Mag +5.4 HD 23753
O RA 03:50:05.7 Dec N 23°43’58” Mag +6.2 HD 23923
P RA 03:57:48.7 Dec N 24°28’55” Mag +6.2 HD 24802
Q RA 03:47:43.2 Dec N 24°08’15” Mag +6.3 24 Tauri
T RA 03:49:19.1 Dec N 23°52’41” Mag +6.5 26 Tauri
Please reply within this thread to receive specific occultation or graze data for your location. I’ll need your Longitude, Latitude, Time Zone, approximate Altitude above sea level, and the name of the stars that interest you. If your desire is to find the latitude for a certain star’s graze point that matches a specific longitude, please say so.
