Challenge-Watch the Daytime Moon Occult Aldebaran for North America This Friday

By David Dickinson September 29, 2015
Challenge-Watch the Daytime Moon Occult Aldebaran for North America This Friday

  • The Moon reaches Last Quarter phase on Sunday, October 4th at 21:06 UT/5:06 PM EDT.

  • A close pass with Venus on October 8th, with a brilliant occultation visible in the pre-dawn hours from Australia.

  • A tight photogenic grouping of the Moon, Mars and Jupiter in a four degree circle on the morning on October 9th;

  • A close pass of the Moon just 36 hours from New near Mercury on the morning of Sunday, October 11th, with another occultation of the planet visible from Chile at dawn;

  • And finally, New Moon (sans eclipse, this time) occurring at 00:06 UT on October 13th, marking the start of lunation 1148.

    • David Dickinson

    David Dickinson

    David Dickinson is a freelance science writer and long-time sky watcher. He has built telescopes and observatories, chased eclipses, and travels and observes with his wife, Myscha, on a mission to get ‘eyes on the sky’ worldwide. His books The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Observing the Cosmos, The Astronomer’s Deep-Sky Field Guide and science fiction short stories are available here.