On Friday, another rare celestial phenomenon can be observed between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., when the waning Moon will occult the Pleiades.
The event will last for several hours, with observation conditions gradually improving as the Moon and the Pleiades climb higher in the sky, the Svábhegy Observatory told MTI on Tuesday.
Looking toward the northeastern sky, at 10 p.m., when the occultation begins, the pair will be just 8 degrees above the horizon.
Since the Moon will be low at the start of the event, an unobstructed eastern horizon will be needed. Due to the bright glow of the Moon, the phenomenon can best be observed with binoculars or a telescope on a tripod.
Through handheld binoculars, both the Moon and the entire Pleiades cluster with its brightest stars will fit in a single field of view at the beginning of the event.
As the event progresses, around 11 p.m., the Moon will appear to sit in the middle of the star cluster, surrounded by its stars. By then the pair will be 17 degrees above the horizon, making observation easier.
By midnight, the Moon will have moved to the left edge of the cluster, and around 12:40 a.m. the entire Pleiades will reemerge from behind the Moon.
With a small astronomical telescope on a tripod and a magnification of 50–100 times, the occultations will be clearly visible as the Moon covers the stars of the cluster, which then reappear on the other side of the Moon.
Through a telescope, the Moon’s craters and surface features will also be visible during the occultations. On the northern hemisphere, near the line between light and shadow, the large Aristoteles and Eudoxus craters will be visible, with the lunar Caucasus mountain range appearing below them.
The Svábhegy Observatory is preparing a special evening program for the rare phenomenon.
The occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon follows an 18-year cycle. Several such occultations will be visible between 2023 and 2029, but after that the next one will only occur in 2042.
(MTI)
Main picture: illustration.
