Monday 19th to Sunday 25th August 2024
I've recently mentioned "conjunctions" several times, where two objects appear to be the closest they ever get to each other. You can also come across "occultations" where one object completely blocks another from view.
We have one of those on the early morning of Wednesday 21st, when a 97%-lit waning gibbous Moon occults Saturn. If you look towards the south south west from 4am, you will see the pair, with Saturn just above the Moon.
At 4.28am, Saturn starts to disappear behind the top of the Moon.
Saturn begins to reappear again from behind the eastern edge of the Moon at 5.15am and by this time, the Moon will have drifted towards the south west.
You will have witnessed what is known as a "full Lunar occultation" because the Moon will have completely hidden the planet. Sometimes the occultation is not full and the edge of the Moon appears to just graze the distant object.
Of course, because we will only be a couple of days past a Full Moon, it will be very bright and this will make it harder to see Saturn. Binoculars or a small telescope will really show the occultation in detail.
The Moon orbits around us at a whopping 2288 miles per hour and at that speed, it only takes 49 seconds for the Moon's edge to completely cover Saturn.....so don't look away or you might miss it!
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2024
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