[BAA 00446] RARE DAYLIGHT OCCULTATION OF ANTARES ON WEDNESDAY

[Rick]

BAA electronic bulletin No. 00446 -- http://www.britastro.org/
Bulletin transmitted on  Tue Oct 20 12:37:39 BST 2009
(c) 2009 British Astronomical Association

RARE DAYLIGHT OCCULTATION OF ANTARES, 2009 OCTOBER 21

On Wednesday October 21st, the thin crescent moon will occult the second brightest star it can occult, magnitude 1.1 Antares (alpha Scorpii), in daylight.  Specimen disappearance and reappearance times will be as follows:-

Code Select Expand

                 Disappearance     Reappearance
                 UT   h   m           h   m
Greenwich           14  55.1        16  09.9
Birmingham          14  51.9        16  06.9
Edinburgh           14  48.9        16  02.7

Add 1 hour to the above times for the time in BST.  Approximate times for other locations can be calculated from the simple formulae in the 2009 BAA Handbook, p.26.

The moon will be due south at around 10º elevation at disappearance and slightly lower at reappearance.  The cusp angles will be around 79S for the disappearance against the dark limb, and -62S for the reappearance from the bright limb.

Owing to the low elevation of the moon, these won't be easy to see without a small telescope, but worth a try if you can.  Use the telescope to find the moon then concentrate on the moon's limb to search for the star.  Even a 1.1 magnitude star may be difficult to find in daylight, only 40º from the sun.

The undersigned would be interested to receive a copy of any video recordings of the events.

Unfortunately the weather forecast....

Good luck,

Andrew Elliott

Occultation Coordinator, Lunar Section
Email:  ae at f2s dot com