Last Saturday, Americans were able to watch how the moon obscured the bright star Aldebaran
On Saturday night, Americans were witnesses to one of the most beautiful and easy to watch occultations that occurred on the U.S. territory. Aldebaran, one of the brightest stars on the night sky, hid behind the moon in an exquisite show visible in the U.S. and Central America.
Occultation is the term generally used in astronomy when an object passes in front of another object. Most often, occultation refers to the moon which passes in front of stars and blocks their view from Earth. Stars occulted by the moon reappear after a few second on its edge, called ‘limb’.
The Saturday event was a star occultation, where the moon obscured the bright star Aldebaran. In the western part of the United States, the stellar eclipse was visible early in the evening. In the east, viewers could watch it during late hours, close to midnight. Such convenient hours for watching stars made for one of the best occultations that ever occurred.
Aldebaran is one of the most colorful and brightest stars on the night sky. Fortunately, it was covered by the dark limb of the moon. Due to the lack of glare on the unlit part of the moon, such occultations are both easy and entertaining to watch. The moon was close to a first quarter, so it was 46 percent illuminated.
Telescopes or binoculars always make stargazing experiences better, but this astronomical event was visible to the naked eye. This made for the perfect opportunity to organize skywatching events and to gather large groups of people who were passionate about astronomy or were just eager to witness something they did not get to see every day.
In the west, the event was visible high in the southwest sky. In the east, it appeared much lower in the sky, at around 15 degrees (that means around an arm’s length) above the horizon towards west and northwest. The moon set at 12:45 a.m. local time.
Occultations on the dark limb of the moon are one of the most stunning astronomic events one can witness, and they are also easy to watch even if you do not have sophisticated equipment for star gazing. Last Saturday, Americans were able to watch a beautiful show on the night sky.
Image Source: Flickr
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