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[Centaur]

Mark your calendar. Chicagoland's brightest Full Moon for 2013 will occur during Friday evening May 24.

As the Moon is rising, we Chicagolanders will be treated to the immersion and emersion surrounding the lunar occultation of magnitude +2.6 Beta Scorpii. This will be one of the few times that we’ll be in the zone for a nighttime occultation of a fairly bright star or planet this year.

Later that evening the Moon will enter into a very brief and shallow penumbral eclipse. That will not be noticeable. However, the Moon’s nearness to the anti-solar point and its wide angular diameter will combine to make the Moon especially bright that night.

See my data for the risings of Full Moons in Chicago during 2013 at CurtRenz.com/moon.html

[Centaur]

I now have on my website a preview of the May penumbral lunar eclipse. The brightest Full Moon of 2013 slightly grazing the weak edge of the penumbra will have virtually no effect on its brilliance. The June Full Moon will actually approach slightly closer to the Earth’s center, but the May Full Moon’s nearness to the ecliptic enhances the oppositional flash. My related graphics can be seen at: CurtRenz.com/moon.html

During that same evening the Moon will occult magnitude +2.6 Beta Scorpii. I’ll provide data and graphics for that next month.

[Centaur]

Here’s the photo I took today of the Full Moon rising over Arlington Heights, Illinois on 2013 MAY 24 at 20:09 CDT. That was 14 minutes after moonrise and 6 minutes before sunset.