- Original Message -
From: David Dunham
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 11:11 PM
Subject: AstroAlert: Spectacular Jupiter occultation Tuesday
Morning
==This
Is SKY TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for
Occultations==
This is a reminder about the spectacular occultation of Jupiterby the 26%
sunlit waning crescent Moon that will occur early Tuesdaymorning, December
7th, visible from most of North Americaeast ofthe Rocky
Mountains. A good overview of the occultation is athttp://www.skyandtelescope.com (click
on "Observing Highlights" on theleft to get to "A Late-Night Jupiter
Occultation") with maps showingthe times and circumstances of the event, and
a view of the Moon withthe path of Jupiter behind it for several major
cities. Details ofthe occultation, with local predictions for hundreds
of locations anddetails of the southern-limit grazing (actually, partial)
occultationacross Texas (San Antonio and s. of Houston) and the Florida
Keys, areon the main IOTA Web site at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota
Note that the reappearance of the 6.5-mag. star ZC 1850 will
occurduring the Jupiter occultation for many locations; predictions for
itare also given on the above Web
site. A lunar occultation of a bright
planet by a crescent Moonis a rare event, especially when considering
weather, etc.What can be done during a lunar occultation of Jupiter?I
think little, if anything, of scientific value, but the event,especially the
dark-side reappearance, will be easy to see naked-eye,weather permitting, so
it is a good educational event, to teach yourfriends and colleagues about
occultations, and show them aninteresting astronomical
event. Now that sensitive video cameras
have been purchased and used bymany amateur astronomers, it would be
interesting to use them torecord this unusual event; videos could be of
educational value, aswell as just interesting. As far as I know, no
lunar occultation ofJupiter on the dark side of a crescent Moon at night has
been videorecorded in either black-and-white or in color with the
sensitivevideo cameras now available. It will be neat to record the
dark-sidelunar features illuminated by Earthshine for the dark-limb
eventsinvolving Jupiter. As I see it,
two new things can be done:1. Observe at the inner edge of the
southern partial occultationzone, to video record the maximum extent of the
partial occultation,and the short reappearance(s) of the southern polar
regions ofJupiter in lunar valleys near the lunar south pole; there may
evenbe some value in this, since no graze observations are known
within0.3 deg. of librations for this
graze. Harold Povenmire is leading the effort
to observe the Jupitergraze near Marathon, FL. His phone, in Indian
Harbour Beach, nearMelbourne, is 321-777-1303; his cell phone is
321-544-5658. Heplans to observe somewhere near US 1 and Coco Plum
Dr., and asI remember, he'll be staying at the Holiday Inn, 13201 Overseas
Hwy,Marathon, FL 33050, toll-free phone 866-270-5110. Clear Sky
Clockshows that it will be partly cloudy at the
time. Clear skies are forecast for southern
Texas, except for along thecoast - Houston and other areas within about 70
miles of the coastare expected to be overcast. The graze zone passes
over San Antonioand south of Houston. The farther west along the path
you can go, theclearer it will be, but also the Moon's and Jupiter's
altitude abovethe horizon will be lower.2. I think within
about 30 deg. of a central occultation, videorecord the reappearance of
Jupiter with a sensitive camera, likethe Supercircuits PC164C. In that
area, it should be possible toimage the ring of Jupiter for a few seconds
before the ball of theplanet reappears and overwhelms it; I think it would
be the firstdetection of the ring of Jupiter with relatively small
telescopes, andprobably the first Earth-based video recording of
it. The "near-central" total occultation,
although visible from awide area, is not so easy, since almost the entire
astronomicallypopulated parts of the USA and Canada are expected to be
clouded out.The best area of clear skies is predicted to be the Great
Plains, fromNorth Dakota to Texas (except the coastal areas), but clouds
areexpected to linger in eastern Kansas, n.e. Oklahoma, and
s.e.Nebraska. It will also be clear west to the Rocky Mountains,
wherethe altitude of the event is quite low. Another area of clear
skiesis expected to be centered over New Brunswick, including much of
NovaScotia and part of northern Maine. The event might be seen in
partlycloudy skies in the southeastern USA, over most of Florida,
southernGeorgia, and the southern
Carolinas. Good luck with your
observations of this event, wherever you are!I plan to leave Maryland, since
it's predicted to be very cloudythere. What I will do will
