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[Centaur]

During the afternoon of 2012 AUG 13 the waning crescent Moon will occult (cover) a half lit Venus for many observers in North America. They may be visible by naked eye for those who know where to look, but optical aid would be helpful. Avoid looking at the Sun. For many East Asians it will be a predawn event on AUG 14.

I’ve created two graze maps, Besselian elements and a preview for Chicago. The graphics for those and my more detailed article can be found on my lunar webpage at: www.CurtRenz.com/moon

Photos and descriptions of the event would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Paulie pchris00]

Challenge accepted.

[Centaur]

Jul 22, 2012 13:28:02 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Challenge accepted.

Hail Sir Paulie! Will other astro-knights join the quest?

For adventurers who will not be at the Adler, I'll provide my predicted immersion and emersion timings to those who reply with a longitude, latitude, altitude and time zone.

[Paulie pchris00]

I'll be at Conway that day, 41 degrees 16' 15" north latitude; 87 degrees 22' 25" west longitude, 655 ft elevation.

[Centaur]

Jul 28, 2012 17:40:56 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I'll be at Conway that day, 41 degrees 16' 15" north latitude; 87 degrees 22' 25" west longitude, 655 ft elevation.

Paulie, I predict the center of Venus will become immersed at 15:38:36 CDT for Conway and then emerge at 16:31:28. Empirical corroboration of the timings would be much appreciated.

[wwpierre]

Here's how it will look from my observing site at the Center of the Universe.

Attachments:

[wwpierre]

Here's my location. Stellarium is sometimes a few minutes off with timing, but stuff always rises pretty much where Stellarium says it will.

Attachments:

[Centaur]

Jul 29, 2012 15:14:54 GMT -6 wwpierre said:

...Stellarium is sometimes a few minutes off with timing, but stuff always rises pretty much where Stellarium says it will.

Unfortunately it's bells and whistles that grab an audience rather than scientific accuracy.

[-=CROMAN=-]

looks like I'll be bringing an imaging setup to the office that day. Is anyone else planning on imaging?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Let's do some imaging on this.

I'm a go.

[Paulie pchris00]

I'm going to try. We're having our monthly CAS meeting that night at the observatory, so I'm just going to get out there way early, find the Moon with the big glass, and wait for the show. I'll image it as best I can.

[Centaur]

I've been asked why the majority of occultations of planets by the Moon seem to occur in the daytime. This is particularly true of the inferior planets Mercury and Venus. Since they are closer to the Sun than the Earth is, they never appear to stray far from the Sun as we view them. The vast majority of the time that one of them is above the horizon, so is the Sun. Hence a Mercury or Venus occultation is much more likely to occur during the daytime for observers at a particular location. Of course observers within a small zone on Earth will witness the same occultation during the nighttime. This all is also somewhat true for the other planets, but with an increased probability of nighttime occurrence.

[patrickm]

Thanks Centaur. That, at least, makes perfect sense to me!

[Centaur]

Aug 8, 2012 19:23:51 GMT -6 patrickm said:

Thanks Centaur. That, at least, makes perfect sense to me!

You're welcome, Patrick. I hope that you'll be able to provide an observation report.