Saturday morning September 5th there will be a star missing from a familiar formation of stars as they rise in the east. Those familiar with the constellation Taurus the Bull know that the face of the bull is depicted by the stars of the Hyades, a ‘V-shaped’ open star cluster. At the lower end of the ‘V’ is the bright reddish star Aldebaran, marking the angry eye of the bull.
However on this particular morning, at least for a while, Aldebaran will be missing.
So what is happening? The last quarter Moon will occult, pass in front of’, the reddish star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Most of the duration of the occultation event will be visible from parts of Europe and the eastern coast of North America. A timetable of beginning and ending times and showing cities where the occultation will be visible from may be found at the IOTA (International Occultation Timing Association) web site.
Viewing the event will obviously depend on your local weather, however your longitude and latitude will determine what if any of the event you will see. For example at my longitude of 94oW the last quarter Moon does not rise until midnight CDT and at that time the occultation will already be in progress.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for more observing information for this month.