Space and astronomy news
September offers a number of fascinating lunar occultation events worldwide.
Chances are, there’s one near you this month. The Moon is certainly busy in September, as its passage covers up (occults) multiple celestial objects worldwide. If skies are clear, you may just get a chance to see one of these events listed below, as the Moon blocks out a star, planet or star cluster.
Continue reading “Catch a Fall Feast of Lunar Occultations in September”
It’s one of the stranger observations in ancient literature, and one of the earliest recorded tales of daytime astronomy.
A curious account comes to us from the 1st century AD Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, concerning the exploits of Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, who notes that:
“The Sun’s radiance makes the fix’d stars invisible in the daytime, although they are shining as much as in the night, which becomes manifest at a solar eclipse and also when the star is reflected in a very deep well.”
Continue reading “Astro-Challenge: Adventures in Daytime Astronomy”
Welcome to Saturn, as you’ve probably never seen it. It’s always awe-inspiring to see the clockwork motion of the heavens, transpire in real time. In a slow motion Universe, occultations give us the chance to see the cosmos pull off a celestial hat-trick. This can appear as a split second-type of event—such as when the Moon, a planet or an asteroid winks out a distant star—or transpire as a leisurely affair as the Moon covers, then uncovers the disk of a planet.
Continue reading “See the Moon Photobomb Saturn in an Amazing Capture”
A recent celestial event provided a fascinating look at a long-standing astronomical mystery.
Is the ‘ashen light of Venus’ a real phenomena or an illusion?
On October 8th, the waning crescent Moon occulted (passed in front of) the bright planet Venus for observers in the southern hemisphere. And while such occurrences aren’t at all rare—the Moon occults Venus 3 times in 2015, and 25 times in this decade alone worldwide—the particulars were exceptional for observers in Australia, with a -4.5 magnitude, 40% illuminated Venus 30” in size emerging under dark skies 45 degrees west of the Sun from behind the dark limb of the Moon.
David and Joan Dunham rose to the challenge, and caught an amazing sequence featuring a brilliant Venus reappearing from behind the Moon as seen from the Australian Outback. When I first watched the video posted on You Tube by International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) North American coordinator Brad Timerson, I was a bit perplexed, until I realized we were actually seeing the dark nighttime side of a waning Moon, with the bright crescent just out of view. Venus fully emerges in just under a minute after first appearing, and its -4th magnitude visage shines like a spotlight when revealed in its full glory.
“Joan and I observed the reappearance of Venus from behind the dark side of the 15% sunlit waning crescent Moon, from a dark and wide parking area on the east side of the Stuart Highway that afforded a low (1-2 degree) horizon to the east,” Dunham said. “Since the past observations of ashen light were visual, I decided that it would be best to use the 25mm eyepiece with the 8-inch visually rather than just make a redundant video. Neither the real-time visual observation, nor close visual inspection of the video recording, showed any sign of the dark side of Venus.”
We’ve written about the strange puzzle of ashen light on the nighttime side of Venus previously.
Reports by visual observers of ashen light on the dark limb of Venus over the centuries remain a mystery. On the crescent Moon, it’s easy to explain, as the Earth illuminates the nighttime side of our natural satellite; no such nearby illumination source exists in the case of Venus. Ashen light on Venus is either an illusion—a trick of the dazzling brilliance of a crescent Venus fooling the eye of the observer—or a real, and not as yet fully described phenomenon. Over the years, suggestions have included: lightning, airglow, volcanism, and aurora. A good prime candidate in the form of an ‘auroral nightglow” was proposed by New Mexico State University researchers in 2014. 19th century astronomers even proposed we might be seeing the lights of Venusian cities, or perhaps forest fires!
Could we ever separate the bright crescent of Venus from its nighttime side? A lunar occultation, such as the October 8th event provides just such a fleeting opportunity. Though it’s hard to discern in the video, Dunham also watched the event visually through the telescope, and noted that, in his words, “the dark side of Venus remains dark,” with no brief appearance prior to sighting the crescent shining through the lunar valleys.
A tentative light curve made by Mr. Timerson seems to support this assertion, as the appearance of Venus quickly over-saturates the view:
Of course, this is far from conclusive, but seems to support the idea that the ashen light of Venus noted by ground observers is largely an optical illusion. Not all occultations of Venus by the Moon are created equal, and the best ones to test this method occur when Venus is less than half illuminated and greater than 40 degrees from the Sun against a relatively dark sky. Compounding problems, the ‘dark’ limb of the Moon has a brightness of its own, thanks to Earthshine. Dunham notes that observers in southern Alaska may have another shot at seeing this same phenomenon on December 7th, when the 13% illuminated crescent Moon occults a -4.2 magnitude 69% illuminated Venus, 42 degrees west of the Sun… the rest of North and South America will see this occultation in the daytime, still an interesting catch.
Looking at future occultations, there’s an intriguing possibility to hunt for the ashen light on the evening of October 10th, 2029, when then Moon occults a 57% illuminated Venus against dark skies for observers along the U.S. West Coast. Incidentally, a dawn occultation provides a better circumstance than a dusk one, as Venus always reemerges from the Moon’s dark limb when it’s waning. It enters the same when waxing, perhaps allowing for observer bias.
Can’t wait for December? The Moon also occults the bright star Aldebaran on October 29th for Europe and North America on November 26th near Full phase… the good folks at the Virtual Telescope will carry the October event live.
For now, the ashen light of Venus remains an intriguing mystery. Perhaps, an airborne observation could extend the appearance of Venus during an occultation, or maybe the recently announced Discovery-class mission to Venus could observe the night side of the planet for an Earthly glow… if nothing else, it’s simply amazing to watch the two brightest objects in the nighttime sky come together.
Ever dabbled in the occult? You’ll have your chance Monday night March 10 when the waxing gibbous moon glides in front of the star Lambda Geminorum for much of North America, occulting it from view for an hour or more. Occultations of stars by the moon happens regularly but most go unnoticed by casual skywatchers. Lambda is an exception because it’s one of the brighter stars that happens to lie along the moon’s path. Shining at magnitude +3.6, any small telescope and even a pair of 10×50 or larger binoculars will show it disappear along the dark edge of the moon.
With a telescope you can comfortably watch the star creep up to the moon’s edge and better anticipate the moment of its disappearance. The fun starts a few minutes before the impending black out when the moon, speeding along its orbit at some 2,280 mph (3,700 km/hr), draws very close to the star. During the final minute, Lambda may seem to hover forever at the moon’s invisible dark limb, and then – PFFFT – it’s gone! Whether you’re looking through telescope or binoculars, the star will blink out with surprising suddenness because the moon lacks an atmosphere.
If there was air up there, Lambda would gradually dim and disappear. Even without special instruments, early astronomers could be certain the moon had little if anything to protect it from the vacuum of space by observing occultations.
As the moon moves approximately its own diameter in an hour, you can watch Lambda re-emerge along the bright limb roughly an hour later, though its return will lack the drama and contrast of a dark limb disappearance. While occultations allow us to see how swiftly the moon moves in real time as well as provide information on its atmosphere or lack thereof, real science can be done, too.
Planets also are occasionally occulted by the moon. Time lapse of Venus’ disappearance on May 16, 2010
Observers along the occultation boundary in the southern U.S. can watch the star pop in and out of view as it’s alternately covered and uncovered by lunar peaks jutting from the moon’s limb. Before spacecraft thoroughly mapped the moon, careful timings made during these “grazing occultations” helped astronomers refine the profile of the moon’s limb as well as determine elevations of peaks and crater walls in polar regions. They can still be useful for refining a star’s position and motion in the sky.
The moon’s limb can also be used much like a doctor’s scalpel to split unsuspected double stars that otherwise can’t be resolved by direct observations. Take Lambda Gem for instance. We’ve known for a long time that it totes around a magnitude +10.7 companion star 10 arc seconds to its north-northeast, but previous occultations of the star have revealed an additional companion only a few hundredths of an arc second away orbiting the bright Lambda primary. The star plays a game of hide-and-seek, visible during some occultations but not others. Estimated by some as one magnitude fainter than Lambda, keep an eye out for it Monday night in the instant after Lambda goes into hiding.
Lunar occultation and reappearance of Antares Oct. 21, 2009
I watched just such a “two-step” disappearance of Antares and it fainter companion some years back. With brilliant Antares briefly out of view behind the moon’s limb, I easily spotted its magnitude +5.4 companion just 2.5 arc seconds away – an otherwise very difficult feat at my northern latitude.
Want to know more about things that disappear (and reappear) in the night? Make a visit to the International Occultation Timing Association’s website where you’ll find lists of upcoming events, software and how to contribute your observations. If you’re game for Monday night’s occultation, click HERE for a list of cities and times. Remember that the time show is Universal or Greenwich Time. Subtract 4 hours for Eastern Daylight, 5 for Central, 6 for Mountain and 7 for Pacific. Wishing you clear skies as always!
Did you notice a bright “star” close to the Moon last night (September 8, 2013)? People around the world had the treat of seeing the waxing crescent Moon have the planet Venus snuggle up close… or in some places, the Moon actually passed in front of Venus, in what is known as an occultation. Also, on Saturday, the bright star Spica added to the scene.
Thanks to our readers from around the world for sharing their images and videos!
over the Eternal Flame of the 9/11 Memorial located here in San Antonio, Texas. Credit and copyright: Adrian New.
Here’s a video showing the occultation of Venus by the Moon, photographed by Fabian Gonzalez.
Video of the occultation of Spica by the Moon on September 7, 2013 from Israel, taken by Gadi Eidelheit. Read more about at his website, VenusTransit.
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“Once more into the breach, my dear friends…”
Such a quip may be deemed appropriate as we endured the media onslaught this past weekend for the third and final perigee Full Moon of 2013.
Tonight, on Monday, July 22nd, the Moon reaches Full at 18:15 Universal Time (UT)/4:15 PM EDT. This is only 21.9 hours after reaching perigee, or the closest point in its orbit at 358,401 kilometres from the Earth on the Sunday evening at 20:28 UT. Continue reading “Super-Moon Monday: The 3rd (& Final?) Act”